In The Deepest Space
by loss4words
Summary: I'll be honest. I pulled this thinking I'd like to publish. It is better as fanfiction so I'm reposting it. I've left all of the old notes on the story, so you can disregard as they are nearly two years old.
1. Last Breath

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 1 - Last Breath**

Glossary:

**Flain - small holes behind the ear that are kind of like a nose, but detect not only smells, but emotions as well and sound. They are covered by skin, but open up when required.**  
**Struiit - a time measurement. Approximately five and three-quarter hours.**  
**Croan - something between a groan and whimper**  
**gnyuck gnyuck - an admonishment like "now now"**  
**cleuge - like a bandaid that adheres to the skin and changes its chemical appearance to blend in with the skin**  
**Sa-ahn - sorry**  
**Ahhh-ghizhhhhhhh - a calming sound, to sooth**  
**Zhah-wuut - hold still**

Bella ~

"Swan, can you hear me? SWAN!"

I hear his voice but can no longer respond. The oxygen in my tank is running dangerously low, and I can't waste it on speaking. I shallow my breathing as much as possible while crawling on hands and knees back toward where I think the shuttle is. My heart thuds painfully in my chest, and I know that this could very well be the last few moments of my life. And it's just so fucking dark out here.

My mind briefly wanders to Charlie - my dad - and then to Renee, my hair-brained mother. I think about all of the things I haven't said to them, have never and will never experience with them. I worry less about my mom because she has her new husband Phil to take care of her, but Charlie doesn't have anybody except for his fishing pole and the two deputies at the station. I think about our last telephone conversation and how short I was with him. I won't get to say I'm sorry for being an ungrateful bitch of a daughter.

The rest of my team continues yelling at me through my headset, but their voices begin to feel too far off - like an echo down a long hall from the far end. My arms will no longer carry me, and I feel them go out from under me, followed by my legs, and finally I lay flat against the surface of this foreign planet. It's dark, oh-so dark, and cold. My space suit is designed to protect me against the cold of space, but it's a different kind of cold I feel now, the cold of death's grip. I am a fish out of water, gulping for any last remnant of oxygen I can find...and then there is none.

Then there is nothing but black, but the pressure in my chest is gone. This is death.

Esme ~

"Leeft her ghently, Emmeet. You musssst be careful."

Emmeet grunts as he picksss the girl up, heavy in her white uniform. I'm sssure sssshe is on the brink of death, I'm sure and we are moving much too ssslowly.

We race to the pod with Emmeet carrying the girl, hoping to sssave her life. She is unresssponsive, and only moments before, we watched her take her last breath from a ssshort distance. She has some form of communicassion device on her, and if we make too much noise while we resssscue her, whomever issss on the other end will know we are here.

"We mussst make hassste, Emmeet. We will be unable to revive her sssoon," I notify.

Emmeet grunts and runs fasster. We get to the pod, and I quickly open the hatch; Emmeet ssspeeds through, removing the girl's cranial protection. I rip the purified air tube from the wall, and we open her passage, jam the tube down her thhroat, working to revive her heart. Emmeet movesss at her feet, pulling her boots and cloth from her feet, then begins to shock her arches. Within ssseconds, her back bowsss off of the table as she attempts to breathe in air.

I quickly leap up on the table, stradling her and turn her cranium towards mine. I ssspeak to her through my orbs, demanding she look at mine. She is sstrong-minded, fighting my voice in her head, but complies after my telepathic trancce.

"Ahhh-ghizhhhhhhh"," I buzz through my teeth at her, and her eyes flutter closssed. Sshe will sleep now and not fight againssst our help.

I replace Emmeet, working on her feet so that he can direct us back to the sship. He is a sskilled driver and has ussss moving in short moments. We have the technology to travel without being detected; Emmeet passes over her ship, and we ssee a form walk quickly away, wearing the same uniform the girl had been. My feminine senssses detect it is a man, and my flain opens up; I smell his rigid fear even as far from him as we are. He is most likely looking for the girl, but he will never find her. As far as he knows, ssshe has expired.

Once the girl is in a deep sleep and her heart hasss regulated, I move to the front of the pod and sslide into the ssub-cradle. Emmeet expertly glides uss toward home, and we remain quiet for a time. I think about our misssion today. We had gone in search of a broken pod. Carlisss had argued with Ah-liss about going out, as there were to be cossmic storms, but Ah-liss won, so here we are. The sstorms are just now beginning to make an impact, and after several struiits pass, the ship appears on our satelite.

In the back capsule, I hear the girl moaning and incoherently murmuring words that have no meaning to me. I extract myself from the ssub-cradle with Emmeet directing us closer to home. The girl sstrugles againssst the restraints I put her in earlier and whimpers loudly. The tube is still down her throat, and her mouth opensss as sshe fights againsst it.

"gNyuck, gNyuck," I admonish her, then crawl on the table, reaching above her head. I sstab at the air button with my digit, before ssslowly extricating the tube from her throat. She whoops and gaspsss for air, so I gently press againssst her esophogeal crevicce; she calms down.

The girl says nothing for sssseveral momentsss, and she and I watch each other. I releassse her arms and legss from the restraints and watch her move her limbs. Her movements are ssspastic, and I worry that she may have a problem in her cccentral computer sysstem.

"I died," she says, and my flain opens up once again, tasting her words; Emmeet croansss out front at the tenor of her human voice.

I ssswallow thickly, attempting to regain my composure. Ah-liss gave me this exact warning before we'd left, saying that I mussst maintain my will against unforseen surprissses.

I nod at her. "Yesss, child. You died. But now, you are not dead," I explain.

Her eyes widen as I speak, and I'm not sssure if it's at the news that she isss alive or that I have ssspoken to her. She opens her mouth to ssspeak again, but closessss it without saying anything. I approach her ssslowly, taking my time and walking around the table, untangling all of the device cablessss, then unplugging them from her skin puncturessss. She makesss a little noissse when I pull the cable from her neck, and my flain flaresss again. She gassssps, and I look over at her, noticing her gaze upon my neck. I slowly lift my hand, placing it behind my hearing receptors, and smooth the skin back over my flain. The girl watchesss me clossssely, and I know she will sssspeak to me again sssoon; I puff out my chest, ingesting breathing particles, and reach for composure.

A droplet of color dotsssss her cranial column, and I try my hardest not to tassste the air for her essense smell. I drift to the wall compartment that holdssss our bandages and remove a small cleuggge, then move back to place it against the girl's skin. She flinches ssslightly at my touch, then quickly composes herself. She sssits stoicly upon the table as I move to extend her legssss over the ssside of it.

"You mussst stand, now. Yesss?" I question. I must asscertain that all of her cranial computer functionss are in perfect working function.

The girl ssswings her legs over the ssside of the table, and I put my hands out to her. Ssshe looks fearful, skeptical at first, but then grabs them. A ripple moves across my skin, and I feel my flain flair once again. She notices the change in me and triesss to pull away, but I grip her tighter, pulling her off of the table. She issss shakey on her limbs on firssst account, but I steady her, keeping her upright and fronting her weight. The girl takes several deep breaths, then dipss her head at me.

I drop my hands and move to the side so she hasss room to tesst her capabilitiesss. She takesss one small step, then another - several more, and she issss walking around the cccircular compartment. She letsss go of a twinkling, excited sound, and I am unable to curtail my croan this time.

It slithers out of me slowly, as I am unable to contain it; the girl throwsss her back against the sssshell wall and ssstares at me.

"What was that sound? Did that come from you?" the girl inquires.

Moving over to the door, I wave my hand across the closure sssensor and look back at the girl; I wave her forward, and on much sssteadier feet, she walksss out in front of me, exiting the room.

We make our way to the front of the ssship so that she may properly be identified to Emmeet and that she may sssee her surroundings. She pauses when we come to the compartment head door, and I again wave my hand over the ssensor. It opens, and ssshe moves to walk through. However, I hold her by the arm and move in front of her. Emmeet is not dangerous, we are a calm and loving species, but he is still a young mate and can quickly become irrational.

I feel the girl walk closely behind me, and my flain opens to a new scent that she emits. I only recognize it when we come across an enemy clan and are unsure of our fate. She is feeling fear.

I turn around to her and slowly pass my hand before her orbs. "Ah-ghizhh. Callmm, child."

Her body quakesss, and I grip her arm and hold her steady. Onccce she is composed, I turn and walk the rest of the way into the compartment head. Emmeet wearsss his head phonesss now, communicating with the ressst of our clan. I sslip into the ssseat next to him and point to the ssseat behind Emmeet. The girl ssits.

"What is your name?" she asssks me as she attempts to buckle the sseat around her armsss and torssso.

"Name?" Thisss word is unfamiliar to me.

She dipss her head at me again, then looks around, then back to me. She emits a lot of air, then placesss her hand on her chesst. "I'm Bella. Bell-a," ssshe says, tapping her chest with her digit. I undersstand then. She is requesssting my title.

"Esssme. My title is Esssme. Your title iss Bell-a? Are you not SSSSSSwan?" I clarify, pointing at the lettering stitched upon her white uniform.

She once again dipsss her head at me, then ssshows me her teeth, making me flinch. She takess notice of my expression and quickly hidess them; a forlorn look comess acrosssss her face. I compute that the ssshow of teeth meansss much different thingss to her kind, than mine.

I passs my hand over my face to let her know that all isss well. I am unsure if she undersstands the meaning of this, but her attentionsss are taken from me as ssshe peers out the front of the compartment head. I watch as her eyesss widen and wonder what all of thisss looks like to her.

Our home ssship loomsss in front of usss. Emmeet grunts at me, and I quickly begin to launch our hover land gear, anticipating out entry into the ssship.

**Bella ~**

I have to be dead. None of this can quite possibly be real. This woman, Esme, speaks like a snake, and her feet barely caress the floor as she walks. It's more of a glide and everything feels so surreal. I know I died. I remember the feel of that last breath of air, and there being none in the next. I remember the way my lungs burned - a horrible pain - and the fading of my vision. I'm in some sort of afterlife that doesn't really exist. Maybe this is like what people say - how your life flashes before your eyes before you die. But this isn't that, this is something entirely different and not at all real.

But I can feel pain.

Is this real?

The small pod, as Esme, or whatever her name is, called it, coasts forward a bit and we begin to get closer to the much larger ship in front of us. It is a pristine white color, if that is what you can call it, since I can't really place a name on the actual hue and stretches far past either end of the pod window in right and left directions. Above the larger ship, I see stars and black, open space. I've never felt so small.

The small pod we are in coasts forward into a large mouth on the ships southern tail. Upon our entrance, a heavy weight settles into the bottom of my stomach, and I can't contain the bile that quickly travels up my esophagus to my throat, spewing out of my mouth. I feel the burn of it in my throat, mouth and in my nasal passage. This can't quite possibly be real.

The vomit floats in the air, and suddenly, my feet feel so much more solid and sturdy on the floor of the pod. Through the pod window, I see large arms come out of the floor of the docking room and reach up to grip our small pod. In that instant, whatever kind of gravity they have here, sets in. My vomit, having moved forward from my mouth and body, crashes to the floor, some of it landing on "Emmeet."

In the next instant, he is quickly on his feet and turns to face me; his eyes bulge from his head, and he instantly throws up all over the place, a bluish-green viscous matter.

"Ha-aghhhh, Emmeet! gnyuck, gnyuck!" Esme says as she jumps up out of her chair. Her hair whips around her body, curving like a protective layer around her upper torso, yet appearing more delicate than silk.

"Sa-ahn," Emmeet says quietly. His eyes are down cast, and I'm surprised at the soft lilt of his voice. It is smooth like velvet and carries and air of old age with it, although he looks to be my age. I don't know what age or years or time means in this place; I try to hide my surprise at his voice.

Esme looks at him and raises her hand up in the air like she is holding something, but gesturing at me. "Bell-a." This is all she says, and in the next second, Emmeet sweeps me off of my feet and begins to walk down a little corridor and around a corner, until we are standing at the pod's hatch. Esme waves her hand over the sensor, and it slides open; a small, curvy set of retro-looking stairs unfold from the pod, and we descend, Esme first, then Emmeet with me in his arms.

I know that I should be paying close attention to everything around me, but truth be told, I can't take my eyes off of Emmeet. He is a good looking...being, but his looks are not why I'm unable to look away from. Behind his ears are three small holes and a flap of skin. The skin shimmers in such away that is utterly beautiful. I'm transfixed; the skin slides back over the holes and finally, I can look away. As I turn my gaze ahead of us, I catch Emmeet's eyes, and he smiles at me; large dimples dot his cheeks. He nods at me, then looks up ahead of us, and I quickly follow his eyes, remembering that I need to be paying attention to my surroundings if I ever plan to make it out of here.

We walk through several long corridors with me still being carried by Emmeet, until finally, I see a lighted area ahead of us. There is a round room with several glass panes and bright lights, illuminating the glass. It appears to be - what I assume - a satellite or communication system. We round a sharp corner, walking towards a doorway, but Esme comes to an abrupt stop in front of us. She makes this weird clicking sound in her throat and I quickly look over to her to see her focused on something in front of us.

Make that someone...or better yet, someone's bare ass, a bare fucking naked form. I can't deny that it's a very nice ass, and as I stare at it, I realize just how fucking bizarre all of this is. I seriously have to wake up at some point, or truly die, because this can't all be real. Not fucking possible.

Naked Ass turns around - yep, totally naked - and I quickly move my eyes from that...ah, level, and up to his face. He looks young; blond hair cradles a flawless face.

"Carrrrrlisss! You haaven't a garment on," Esme teases, not the least bothered by his nudeness.

'Carllissss,' pronounced like Car-leeese, smiles and walks over to us in the floaty way that I'd seen Esme do earlier, coming up behind Esme. He reaches his hand out and traces the shell of her ear. The sound that comes out of her is completely indescribable; I couldn't describe it if I knew every language on Earth and in space. It was like this guttural groan and a lion purr plus something else, all in one. If she wasn't wearing such a look of pure contentment and ecstasy on her face, I might have been frightened by her.

Esme lets out a long breath that sounds like a hissing sigh and in an instant, there is a short girl standing beside me and Emmeet. In the next half-second, Esme glances at me, then ghosts down the hall with Naked Man...errr, Carlisss.

This is so fucking weird.

I remember the little female beside me and look over at her. Her eyes bug out a little and she makes a small "o" shape with her mouth. The look is utterly ridiculous and I want to laugh, but I have no idea what it means and offending these "people" could be bad. She grips Emmeet's upper arm and he gently begins to lower me from his embrace. I follow his lead and place my feet on the slightly soft, rubbery looking floor, surprised at the way my body feels here.

I've never been a bigger woman by any means, but here, my body feels light, floaty; I feel like I may have trouble keeping my feet on the ground. Maybe that is why they all seem to glide or float to me.

"Weel-cohm," the small girl says; her voice is luxurious and heady. Like Emmeet's voice had been, her's seems too old for her body.

"The title I taake is Ah-lisss. Your title isss Bell-a?" she asks.

I nod my head at her. "Yes, but how did you know?"

Scaring the hell out of me, Ah-liss throws herself away from me by five or so feet within seconds. I hear Emmeet make a noise behind me, but he places his hand on my shoulder, making me feel comfortable...almost safe.

"Ahhh-ghizhhhhhhh," he says, gripping my shoulder. "Ah-lisss, composure."

Ah-liss floats her way back over in front of me and makes that wide-eyed "o" face again, then places her index and middle fingers against the temple of my head. I attempt to turn my head to look around and take stock of my surroundings, to see how many others their are, but Ah-liss holds my head in place as she does whatever it is she is doing.

"Zhah-wuut," she whispers, and again, I have no idea what it means. I decide to just hold still until she is done with her test, or whatever, on me.

Ah-lisss lowers her hand then and looks me directly in the eyes for several moments. I hold her gaze, trying to convey whatever it is that she needs me too, then she abruptly turns away from me.

"The union is decided," Ah-liss announces, and all eyes in the room fall on me.

I'm confused and an onslaught of questions plague me, but mostly, I want to know what union.

"What union?" I ask as Ah-liss and two others begin to stalk toward me.


	2. Not A Fanny Pack

In The Deepest Space

Chapter 2 – Not A Fanny Pack

Glossary:

** xhuh-xhuh - more of a sound then a word, kind of like a breathing in sound, but it is the slang for intercourse.**

Zook-pah - alien equivalent of "holy shit!"

Bella's POV ~

Along with Ah-lisss and Emmeet, I'm pulled down a long corridor with two others. A male and a female walk on either side of me, and I've only picked up their names by accident. There is a male, Jasspeer, and a beautiful female, Roe-salie.

They allow me to walk on my own down the hall, but they each have a hand on me, guiding me to only God-knows-where. As we walk, my mind once again drifts to my dad. I wonder what he's doing right now, and I mourn the loss of him. I worry about his sadness and whether he's eating, or mostly drinking away his sadness. I wonder if he's still working for the police department as their chief or if he has given that up. Thinking of Charlie makes me wonder how much time has passed. I know that travel through space can take time, some astronauts are gone for years and years, and when they return home, their families are changed; moved on without them. That is the whole reason I repeatedly turned down Jacob on his offer of marriage.

We were the best of friends growing up, and when I decided on my future, he knew that it meant changes for us and our relationship that had grown from friends to lovers. Still, he followed me from his beloved La Push for my schooling, and even after that, when I decided not to return to Washington. I knew he missed his family and friends, and I felt guilty about it, but I never led Jacob to believe that I was going to go back. My job was my life, which is why I could never fully commit to marriage; I was married to the stars.

How old is Jacob now? How old is Charlie? Please don't let them be dead.

"Pleassse don't let chwooo be dead?" the one called Roe-salie asks me, and I realize I've spoken my thoughts aloud.

I look to my left at her and see the small holes behind her ear open; they make me a bit squeamish for some reason, like they can sense something with them. Though at the same time though, I find them incredibly interesting. I clear my throat a little, feeling the tightness of oncoming tears. "Um, Charlie, my father, and my...friend, Jacob."

"And wh-ay would they be dead, as you say?" It is the other man asking this time - Jasspeer.

I look to my other side then; the small holes behind his ears are covered by the hair that he wears a bit longer, his bangs curling back behind his ears.

"Well, because I don't know how long it took me to get here. I mean, that from the point of Mars that we were on, to...wherever it is we are now, I don't know how far that is. I don't know the relativity of your time to mine. Days, months, years. They could all be completely different, and I have no idea."

They all face forward as we come to a door, and it doesn't go unnoticed that none of them bother to answer my question. It doesn't seem like they don't have the answer, but more like something they don't want me to know, which is probably bad news for me...and Jake and Dad.

The door we go through leads us to another long hallway with several other doors along it. As we pass the second one, I hear loud noises, and the four others surrounding me make noises, maybe equivalent to my snickers? I'm not sure until the small woman, Ah-liss looks over at me and makes a funny, breathy noise.

"xhuh-xhuh. Eeentercourssse." She says, looking over at Jasspeer, and they seem to have a silent conversation.

Behind me, I hear Emmeet make that sound he'd made on the ship once again, and it makes me wonder what it means. These...creatures, have so many words that I don't recognize which I find incredibly interesting. This entire experience is frightening, yet exciting all at once.

There must be confusion on my face because my shoulder is gripped. I turn my head to look at Roe-salie, the hand belongs to her.

"Emmeet and I are mated. He is unable to masssk some of his needsss due to our impregnation," she explains.

I look down at her belly and see it, ever so flat, then look back up to her face. It must be early in the pregnancy as Roe-salie shows no signs of carrying a child.

"How far into the pregnancy are you?" I can't help but be curious. I have always wanted children, but nothing had ever worked out the way I thought it would. Besides, with my profession, it wouldn't be fair to raise a child with my schedule, which is pure chaos.

Roe-salie cocks her head at me a little. "You are missstaken," she says to me, then looks at Emmeet. I follow her gaze to the back of Emmeet's form in front of me...then I notice it. Just above his ass is a slight bulge covered by his starchy-straight shirt.

Curiousity gets the best of me, and I reach my hand out to touch his back, not thinking. Out of nowhere, I'm thrown up against the corridor wall by Roe-salie. The holes behind her ears are uncovered, and she emits a very low growl or rumble. It sounds a bit like synthesized music coming from her, many levels of different tones in just her one voice. It is both beautiful and utterly frightening at the same time.

Emmeet runs over to stand between Roe-salie and me, leaning toward her and speaking softly to her. I cannot hear any of what he says, but she backs down and pats her chin at him. She looks at me, then, and warns, "You musssssn't touch! He isssss mine. They both, are mine."

I nod my head at her and look at Emmeet again. It clicks. "Wait. How is that possible? Emmeet is pregnant?"

I can feel the shock written all over my face, and I decide that I'm going to really look forward to learning more about this...err...species.

**

We all sit around an odd, kidney-bean shaped white table, including Essssme & Carlisss. They both look incredibly happy and repeatedly lean their heads together, causing their temples and ears to touch. I want to, no, need to know more. I need to find out everything I possibly can about this little clan of intergalactic beings. So many questions speed through my brain, and I'm finding it hard to filter them into most important and least important.

We've just sat down and have yet to start this meeting they've called. I had begun to bombard them with questions earlier after I found out that it is Emmeet that is carrying his and Roe-salie's child. and my mouth just won't stop. Then, this really weird screaming/groaning sound went through the ship, and Ah-lisss got this funny look on her face. She looked at Jassspeer before walking away.

Now, here we are, and once again, Ah-lisss and Jassspeer are huddled together and saying few words, but seem to be silently holding entire conversations with them. Roe-salie stands behind a sitting Emmeet, taking what I can only call a protective stance around him, and throwing daggers from her eyes and in my direction every once in a while.

Essssme makes a funny noise, almost like a laugh, yet not, then stands up.

"Bella. I am ssssure you have an abundanccce of questionsss for usss. We have questionsss for you as well. I regret that we may not be able to anssser them all, but we ssshall try." She sits back down and motions to Emmeet with her hand.

I have to hold back a bubble of laughter that rises in my throat when I hear Emmeet's voice again, sounding very feminine, and I wonder if it is a result of the...errr, his pregnancy. Just thinking this pulls a manic giggle from me, and they all look at me, cocking their heads to one side or another.

"We are having a difficult tttime underssstanding why you find our pregnancccy confussssing, Bella," Emmeet confesses as he looks over his shoulder and up at Roe-salie. She moves her hand to run her finger over the holes behind his ears, that I notice, are covered by the protective skin layer.

I clear my throat, and all eyes fall on me, wide and slightly shocked. Roe-salie jumps in front of Emmeet and pulls some sort of a weapon? from I don't know where.

"gnyuck gnyuck," Essssme yells loudly, and I wonder what I have done wrong.

"I'm sorry, I...I was just clearing my throat, so I could speak," I explain, praying that they understand what I mean. The seem to be able to understand most things I say, but some of our mannerisms, like smiling, and obviously, throat-clearing, mean much different things to each of us.

Essssme reaches her hand out to Roe-salie, then moves it over toward me, saying "Sa-ahn!" Her voice cloaked, with a touch of authority.

Roe-salie straightens and steps to the side of Emmeet, looking over at me. Then, so quietly that I can barely hear, she says, "Sa-ahn." My guess is that it means sorry, or something close to it.

"Sorry," I say.

"Sa-ahn," Roe-salie again says, bumping the bottom of her chin with the top of her hand.

"Yes. Sa-ahn. Sorry," I say to them all, hoping they are understanding my explanation.

"Sar-E," Carlissss says, and his voice is like a silk ribbon cutting through the air. Goose bumps raise up on my arms, while the rest of my body flushes a little. "Sar-E, Sar-E, Sar-E." He repeats my word over and over again, trying it out, and I close my eyes, trying to compose myself and my body's hormonal betrayal. When I reopen them, all eyes are on me once again, and I notice that all of their back "ear-holes" have opened.

"What are the holes behind your ears?" Before I can stop my mouth, the words are out leaving me feeling like a total jackass.

Ah-liss jumps up on the table in one leap and walks across it toward me. She sits cross-legged just a foot in front of me, still on the table. "Sssensors. We tassste the air with them, and your emotionsssss." She leans in closer to me and quietly whispers, "We usssse them in other sssituationss assss well." After she says the last part she looks at me, her eyes asking if I understand, and I really, really do.

"Why do you not have them?" Jassspeer asks this time, and his voice comes out as a deep baritone.

"Ah, well, because you are from a different planet, maybe galaxy, than I am from. Where I am from, it is the female in a relationship, or mated pair, that carries a child in pregnancy, not the man. I am confused about how this works for you. What planet _do_ you come from?" This is what the meeting is for. To ask questions and give answers, and I finally remind myself to not be afraid. They seem like gentle beings, aside from the protective Roe-salie, but I can even understand that. My brain wants answers, craves them, while my heart is not so sure it wants to know. My heart screams for Charlie, for home, and for familiarity.

At my explanation, the group bursts into conversation, talking to each other quickly and gesturing wildly with their hands and arms. This goes on for a few minutes, and all I can do is sit and watch, completely transfixed. Their movements seem choreographed and fluid, truly beautiful like a whacked out ballet. Essssme puts her hand in the air and flicks her fingers outward, immediately silencing all the others.

"Our home planet is Sisla, and we are in the Thwah-ohhn gah-laxi. Where issss it that you come from, Bell-ah?" Essssme asks, speaking with the clearness of assured authority in the group.

"I come from the planet Earth, in the Milky Way Galaxy. I'm human, and I'm an astronaut. How far away from the Milky Way Galaxy are we?"

"A very great deesssstance, child. Very great," Essssme says, then looks away from me and over to Carlissss.

I'm suddenly reminded of my humanity as I feel a stab of pain in my abdomen. I really need to piss. "Um, could you direct me to the bathroom?"

"Bath rooom?" Ah-lisss questions, confusion written plainly on her face.

"Umm, urinate...expel?" I hope they will understand one of these words.

Emmeet jumps up quickly and raises his hand in the air, kind of pumping his arm and yells, "Pi-pee."

This time, I truly can't hold my laughter in, which is a shame in my condition because I giggle at that so hard that I almost piss myself. I lean over at the waist, attempting to regain a little dignity. Without my notice, Ah-liss has hopped down from the table and loops her arm through mine, pulling me from the room. I hope that they are all here when I return because I still have so many questions for them.

We move down an adjacent corridor from the one we traveled to enter the chamber we just left. This hallway looks a little more comfortable, almost decorated if I could call it that. There are random works of what I can only call art attached to walls and small lights, not all that different from the rope lights I have on my porch at home, adorn the walls and cutouts in the walls, blinking to their own rhythm.

Ah-liss takes a step in front of me, turns us down a small passage, and pushes a door open. As I walk through the door, I look around and take in the room and my surroundings. All words and thoughts escape me as I take stock of the enormous room we've just entered. Where it lacks in decoration, it makes up in what you could call natural "light" and "space." Another manic giggle bursts out of my chest, and I walk over to the largest window I've ever seen in my life. The window is actually an outside wall of the ship but I can tell that the glass, or whatever material they use, is incredibly thick and resistant.

The view. I cannot come close to explaining the view. I may be in space, where it would seem that it would be so dark; it is anything but dark. Through the window I can see stars for years and years. Stars for miles and infinite space, and it is the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen. I want to never look away, but I feel a tug on my hand as Ah-liss leads me through another door into an interesting looking bathroom. I need to stop expecting things to look even remotely normal here.

I relieve my bladder, and the second I stand up, there is the sound of suction. The lavatory is immediately emptied. I put my hands under what I think is a faucet, and a puff of some vapory substance shoots out at my hands. There are no towels, so I air my hands out, attempting to dry the vapor, and wave my hand in front of the door censor. Ah-lisss is sitting on a plush red chair when I come out, and I walk back over to the window.

The ship must have turned, because now the view in front of me is a swirl of many different colors. I'm not sure if it is a nebula, or gases or another galaxy, but it takes my breath away.

"So beautiful," I whisper, afraid that if I speak any louder, it may disappear.

"That isss Kazwhahk, where my Jassspeer come from," Ah-lisss tells me with a far-off look in her eyes. "There wassss war there. Mossst met their death, and that issss why there are only particlesss now. You mussn't ever ssspeak of that to my Jassspeer."

I look over at Ah-lisss, studying her. It is the most subdued I've seen and heard her, conveying the gravity, the sadness, of whatever took place on that planet. "I won't."

Out of the quiet, there is a strange clicking sound, almost like the sound your tongue makes when you trill it, but without the sound. A silent trill, yet so very loud. It echoes through the large hall we are standing in, and I quickly look over to Ah-lisss. Her eyes grow very large, and she taps the backside of her wrist to her chin, grabs my hand and pulls me behind her as she begins to run.

She pulls me through corridors that I have not been down, and I can feel us going further and further into the heart of the ship. After we run for several minutes, she slows when we come to a glass door. She waves her hand in front of the door censor, and pulls me in behind her when it opens. There are four different halls that we could walk down, but she pulls me down the furthest to the left. It is lit with red wall sconces that give off a dim, almost seductive feel. As I walk behind Ah-lisss, I think about how odd it is that a certain color of light would make me feel seductive, but it does.

Ah-lisss slows a little more, and I walk beside her, wondering where she has brought me. It hits me like a truck, no, like a freight train as we come to a door. A plain metal door and swirls of lust, euphoria and serentity surge through me.

"Zook-pah!" Ah-lisss exclaims. I have no fucking idea what it means, but I know that whatever she has just said, makes complete sense for what I am feeling right now. I don't understand any of this, but at the same time, I don't really care why. Nothing matters, everything matters.

I look at Ah-lisss for answers and see her back ear holes open; she leans close to me as they flare wider.

Another sound comes from behind the door, and it sounds a bit like the noise that Emmeet had made earlier. Something about that sound draws me closer to the door, and part of me feels like I should be clawing my way through it. Fuck the material. Fuck the fact that it may leave my fingers bloody and broken. My entire body feels like it is on fire. Maybe I should feel embarrassed at the intense nearness of an oncoming orgasm, but I don't. I can't. This feels nothing but perfect.

I feel a light sweat break out over my upper lip, and Ah-lisss makes a sound in her throat. Somehow, I can't really be bothered by it. Nothing matters right now, other than me and what or whoever it is behind that door.

Ah-lisss moves me over to the side, and I hiss out loud. _Did that just come from me?_ She waves her hand in front of the door censor, and the feeling increases ten-fold. My inner coils begin to spasm, and Ah-liss makes that noise again.

"Please." It's all I can say as the door slowly opens, and I'm confronted with the most perfect being I've ever seen.


	3. Milk Bath

In The Deepest Space

Chapter 3 - Milk Bath

Glossary:

**Bowsh - cut it out  
Shahn - NO!  
Soom - a horse-like creature  
Sa-ahn - sorry  
xhuh-xhuh - more of a sound then a word, kind of like a breathing in sound, but it is the slang for intercourse.**

Bella's POV ~

With the door open, it is so, so, so much more intense, maybe more than I can handle. It's like I've snorted a pure concentration of liquid SEX. If I could capture this feeling of euphoria into pill form, I'd make millions. Yeah, yeah, there is such a thing as ecstasy, but I don't think it could ever compare to how I feel right this fucking second.

I have to look away, because if I don't, I'm going to attack him, and since I'm a guest on this ship, I don't think that would be the best idea. Even so, he looks like he wants to attack me too.

From behind me, I hear several sets of footsteps, but my attention is quickly drawn away from that to the beautiful being in front of me when he begins to growl. This growl he emits is both terriffic and terrible at the same time. Terrific because it creates a tidal wave of sensation inside of me. My body warms to the point of sweating, and my nipples harden; I fucking get damp between my legs. Needless to say, I worry that they will be able to detect these...feelings going on inside of me. But seriously, what the hell is going on with me. Why should I feel turned on by a growl?

I hear more footsteps behind me and even louder growling in front of me. Beautiful Alien Number One seems to be growling at his own family. Ah-liss holds her hand up at the on-comers behind me, and she turns to look at "BANO."

"Bowsh!" Ah-lissss exclaims and BANO immediately stops. The rest of his family behind me has stopped several feet away and murmur amongst themselves quietly. Ah-lissss gives BANO a look that says "relax asswipe" and walks over to the others.

Unsure of what to do or where I should stand, I remain where I am, studying my socked feet. I have no idea what they've done with my suit and my boots, but they've left my socks on my feet. I pretend my feet are the most fascinating things I've ever seen in my life, while my body yearns for the stranger in front of me. What the hell is wrong with me? Seriously? I keep thinking about the holes they have behind their ears, and all I want to do right now is touch his. I want to slide my finger ever so lightly over the ridges behind his ear and over the holes. Okay, maybe I want to probe them with my fingers ever so slightly. Ever. So. Slightly.

I hear a very low rumble and look up, seeing BANO staring at me. It's him making the noise, and I realize that he has been staring at me the entire time. He must have been watching me and picking up on God-only-knows-what. My chest is even heaving a little, and I wonder what he really can sense. Oh shit.

He rumbles a little louder and takes a step toward me. I want to stay and place and step backward, away from him, at the same time. My feet do nothing as he takes another step in my direction. His family doesn't see any of this, and I begin to panic a little, I know I should say something to get their attention, but my mouth isn't working. Nothing on me is working, and all of a sudden, he is right in front of me, in my personal space and breathing his breath down on me.

He is tall and lean, at least a foot and a half taller than I am, and God-almighty-in-heaven, his scent is divine. I maintain some semblance of manners and a brain to not reach up on my tip toes and lick his chin, but I want to. Yes I do. My fingers twitch in their want to touch those holes, and I flex them, then ball them into a fist.

He keeps eye contact with me and then, taking a really long blink, leans in toward my ear, and whispers, "xhuh-xhuh."

"Xhuh-xhuh?" I ask, not knowing what the fuck he is talking about. No longer able to control myself with his warm breath on my ear, I reach up and gently brush my finger over the three small holes.

They are smooth, like silk, and as my finger passes over each one, they flare a little bit. BANO jerks his head away from my hand and stares at me. He grabs onto my hand, pulls my arm straight, then leans in to examine the crook of my arm. He grunts a little, seems frustrated about something, grunts louder, then jerks me in toward him, and finally spins us into his room. Behind us, the door slides closed, and BANO clicks something on a panel. I can hear the others banging on the other side, and for the first time, I feel afraid. What have I gotten myself into? Is he angry that I touched him, and his weird ear holes? Is that something sacred that I wasn't supposed to touch? _Oh shit, what have I done? _

I should be polite, make conversation and just, do something. "Um, hi." _Brilliant_.

"Ummm, hhhhi," he imitates.

Just lovely, I have a comedian. "My name is Bella Swan. What is your name?"

BANO cocks his head to the side, but says nothing. Instead, he reaches his hand out to brush my hair away from the back of my ear, and I understand that he is looking for my ear holes. When he doesn't find any, he jumps back several feet from me, shaking his head and mumbling nothing that I recognize. He begins to pace back and forth across his cabin, speaking only to himself, so I sit on a weird kidney bean shaped bench. Seriously, what is it with these people and furniture shaped like kidney beans?

I rub behind my ears, remembering in my mind what BANO's holes felt like, and in an instant, he is beside me again, kneeling this time and pulling my hand away from behind my ear. This time he inspects my ear and head more closely and sighs in exasperation.

"What? I'm sorry, I don't have them. I'm not like you," I tell him, feeling frustrated and defeated and unworthy. I don't understand any of that because why should I feel like that? And unworthy?

I'm broken from my inner thoughts by his finger running behind my ears once more. "Edwaird," he says slowly. His finger makes another slow, sensual sweep behind my ear, then his finger is tracing the shell of my ear and nothing. _Nothing_ has never been so erotic.

_What is wrong with me? _

There is more banging on the door, and BANO, I mean Edward, is unzipping the zipper on the back of my bodysuit. Is he undressing me? I attempt to scramble away, but he grips onto my arm, making that sound that Essssme made to calm me earlier.

"Ahhh-ghizhhhhhhh, Bell-a." His long fingers pull the zipper down, down, down, and I feel him stop just above the swell of my ass, running out of zipper. I sit rigid, not knowing what he is going to do next nonetheless turned on by this non-human stranger I've nicknamed BANO.

His fingers spider-crawl up my spine, and I have to fight the urge to giggle; he stops moving when he gets to my right shoulder blade, and his other hand moves to the sleeve of my body suit. In a swift and unsuspecting movement, he quickly pulls my entire right arm from the sleeve, kneels at my side, then lifts my arm up to his face with both hands. Several times he bends and straightens my arm, concentrating on the crook, with one of his hands cradling my elbow.

There are times in life when you have moments, moments where something happens, and you think to yourself, "This has to be a dream. It must be a dream, because weird shit like this just doesn't fucking happen." This is one of those moments. In fact, this may be _the_ moment. BANO lifted my arm up to his face and fucking sniffed...I said _sniffed_ the crease of my elbow.

_Insert dumbfounded expression here!_

BANO attempts to pull my other arm free of my bodysuit, but I'm beginning to regain a little bit of brain back. As he pulls at my other sleeve, I slap at his hand like a cat batting it's paw at a toy. He looks up at me and jumps up, once again pacing the room. I quickly slip my arm back into it's sleeve but don't even attempt to zip my suit back up.

I walk over to the door and wave my hand in front of the censor. Things are getting too crazy in here, and as much as I'd maybe like to jump this...alien's bones, I want to jump an alien's bones for crying out loud. This can't get any fucking weirder, and I think that maybe I _did_ die back on Mars.

"Shahn!" BANO shouts at me from where he paces in the small area of the cabin, but comes running over toward me. His hands grip my face gently, and he turns my head from side to side, studying it angle by angle. He begins to emit a low pitched sound that I can only explain as seismic. I feel it all through my body, but most of all, I feel it under my jaw. Ripples of heat wash over my body once again, and he leans his temple to mine, much like the way I had seen Carlissss doing with Esssme earlier.

My body begins to grow even warmer, and once again, I begin to feel like I've been left in the throes of passion with a partner who thrives on torturing me. The tension in my tummy twists, and I can't help the pants that come out of me.

Something changes suddenly, almost like a switch flipping right in front of me, but BANO, errr, Edwaird, reaches his hand over to the door panel, and I hear a buzz. Ah-lissss immediately rushes in, but the others stay out. Edwaird slumps slowly down to the floor, and I watch, worried, as Ah-lisss coaxes him up and over to the bed. I move to follow them, but Esssssme seizes my hand from the hallway and pulls me out to her.

My body doesn't want to leave the room. Hell, I'm not sure my mine or even my fucking heart want to leave the room, and I was dying to get out of it only minutes prior. All I know is that as soon as I'm out of that room and into the hallway, I feel utterly alone and so so very confused. Esssssme pulls my face up, looking at my eyes, and I hide them from her, knowing she will see confusion, sadness, and tears. I don't want her to see the tears, they could just be one more thing that we don't have in common as two different species.

Behind me I hear Ah-lissss speaking to BANO, and I hear my name fall from his lips several times before I'm pulled away and into the next room. Essssme and Roe-salie flit about the cabin, reminding me of how my Gran always prepared the spare bedroom for me when I would go to stay with her. It makes me incredibly homesick, and all of a sudden, I feel really tired. My feet begin to go out from under me before I know it, but I am being cradled in Roe-salie's arms before I hit the ground. She feels comfortable and seems to be able to hold me as if I weigh nothing.

I am placed on the most comfortable bed I have ever laid on. This bed could seriously be a cloud, and the bedsheets, angel's hair. It goes without saying that the second my eyes close I am asleep.

oOo

_Down this red hall, the walls are red, the carpet is red, the ceiling is red, but at the end of it, a shiny, silver door. It is not red. The lights are all red, but the door is not. A fist floats up from nowhere and makes a soundless knock, and a scream is let forth._

I wake sitting straight up in my bed and screaming a silent scream. My mouth is open in an O, but I can't speak. My chest rises and falls, and I slump back to the bed, realizing it was a dream. Just a dream. Not even a frightening dream, but disturbing? Yes. I hear movement outside of my door and think about getting up to inspect, but I am a guest here. It would be rude to go wandering into places where I may not be welcome.

A voice cries out, my name being carried through the air, and the need in the tenor of that voice hits me squarely in the chest. I jump out of the bed and run to the door, waving my hand across the censor, but the door does not open. I try again and again, but the door doesn't budge. I've been locked in. I shuffle back to the bed, feeling tired and useless and drift off to a dreamless sleep.

_An ocean, red._

_Tingling lips._

_His lips. Oh sweet baby Jesus, his lips._

oOo

My door slides open, and I hear low voices speaking before I open my heavy lidded eyes and see anyone. I feel like I've been sleeping for weeks straight or perhaps only minutes. The three women in the family all enter my room and walk over to my bed. Roe-salie wrinkles her nose and walks out of the room, and I wonder what I have done to offend her this time.

Esssme also wrinkles her nose, saying, "Ssssstahn."

I have no idea what she is saying, and I look to Ah-lissss, whose face tells me she agrees.

I look back to Essssme, asking her, "Stahn?"

She wrinkles her nose at me and taps it with her fingertip. It clicks then. She's telling me I stink. Lovely.

I pick my arm up, and as unladylike as it is, I smell my armpit. Yep, I fucking reek. "I stink."

They look at me in confusion. "Smell, stink, stahn," I say, and pinch my nose to further my explanation.

"Ssssssmell, sssssss-tink," Essssssme tries out the words, then nods in accomplishment.

The two of them pull me from the bed, and I have no choice but to walk with them to a small ante-chamber, the bathroom. I have never in my life been so excited at the sight of a bathtub. It is a long, white, perfect square, and I cannot see where the water comes out since there is no faucet, but I have no doubt that there will be water in it soon.

Esssssme moves behind me and begins to unzip my suit. I feel frozen in place, not knowing whether I should tell her that I can undress myself, unsure if that would be rude because of the courtesy they are bestowing on me. I ponder the notion too long and forget that I'm being undressed by a female alien instead becoming mezmerized by the way the water fills the bathtub. The water comes up from the bottom, from slits along the side that I can't even see. It must flow forcefully, because in just moments, the tub is filled. I stand naked before the three other women.

I look down into the bathtub to see that it is not water, like I am expecting, but a milky substance that has a very slight pink hue to it.

"What is _that_?" I ask, pointing at the liquid so they understand what I'm asking.

Esssssme pulls my hair from my neck, wrapping it up in a cloth that resembles muslin, and answers, "It is the nectar of the Ssssoom. It hassss many healing qualitiessssss that will aid you in your recovery. Your ssssshell hasss experienced a taxing hardsssship."

She grips my right hand, and Ah-lissss takes the other, both pulling me toward the bath. I don't argue with them, because my body _is _achey, and I _did_almost die.

One leg goes in, and the other. The hands holding onto my hands help me ease in until I am finally submerged up to my shoulders. I don't notice it at first, the temperature of the liquid is neither warm or cold, but the same as my skin's temperature. Slowly, it begins to heat up. It warms and warms until I feel like I'm wrapped in an electric blanket. Tingling starts in my toes and fingers, then travels up my legs and arms, when it reaches the trunk of my body. It feels more like a pulsing than a tingle. The pulsing makes my eyes heavy, and I worry that I'm having an adverse reaction to whatever they've put me in. I may be allergic or something. I want to panic, tell them that something is wrong, but my tongue feels heavy and bulbous in my mouth. My eyes slide shut, and I float once again.

_I see the green of his eyes, the golden bronze of his hair, the holes behind his ear. He chants my name over and over in his adorable alien accent: "Bell-a, Bell-a, Bell-a. Ssssseek me."_

_I want to seek him, find him and do many unmentionable things to him._

_Colors dance around me, all unrecognizable as they swirl into one another making different colors while still remaining their true color. They all fade to a velvety plum pigment, and I can almost feel the texture in it. It gets closer and closer until I am wrapped in it, and it is warm and soft - ever so soft._

I wake up at the sound of a _woosh_ and quickly sit up, noticing that I am in bed once again. I look around for an indicator of the time, but there is none. Essssme and Ah-liss stand at the door, looking at me expectantly, and I quickly move to get out of the bed. I lose my head a little, getting dizzy when I move to fast, and sway toward the floor, but the two women are over to catch me before I can hit the floor.

"Oh, sorry. Or, um, sa-ahn. I'm sorry," I mumble.

Esssme lets out a sound that I would consider a chuckle, and I give her a rueful smile, remembering not to show my teeth.

"It issss the time for your nourishhhment, Bell-a, or you will grow weak oncccce again," Essssme explains, and upon her admission, my stomach growls loudly.

I expect them to jump away from me in terror, because that seems to be the thing they do when my body performs normal function or when I try to seem nice and thankful. Instead, they both look at my tummy curiously.

Ah-lisss finally asks, "Does ssssssomething reside within you?"

I giggle a little but keep it as quiet as possible, take a deep breath, then answer Ah-liss. "No. I'm hungry, and my stomach is growling to further express my hunger."

"Hunger?" Ah-lissss asks.

I nod my head at both of them, put my hand up to my mouth and pretend that I'm taking a bite of food, mimicing chewing. I gulp nothing down, then say, "Eat."

"Eat," Essssme replies, and I nod at her.

Ah-lissss copies the word, and while they dress me in clothes resembling theirs, they practice my English words. As we walk down the corridor, they request new words from me, and so I teach them words that I can use some kind of charade gesture to help explain what they are. This goes on until we come to a room that almost resembles a normal kitchen, except for the utensils and cookware.

The rest of the Alien family is sitting around another fucking kidney bean-shaped table and eating. BANO is nowhere to be seen, and I wonder if he is alright, worrying a little. The two women sit me in a chair at the table, and I see that it is the last chair. It is BANO's chair, and I notice Roe-salie eyeing me. Emmeet says something to her and draws her attention from me.

Carlissss is to my left and turns to look at me. "Are you feeling in better health, Bell-a?"

"Yes! So very much. That milk bath worked wonders," I tell him, and it's the truth. I feel so much better than I had before the bath.

From behind a long island, or partition, Esme corrects me, "Ssssstahn. Not meelk, Bell-a."

I look from her, to Ah-lisss to Roe-salie, confusedly. "But, it felt like milk, kind of. If it wasn't milk, what was it?"

Roe-salie and Ah-lisssss look at each other, then to Essssme and back to me. Essssme comes out from behind the counter and over to the table, placing a bowl of some soupy mixture in front of me.

"Asss I've sssaid, it is the nectar of the Ssssssoom. The sssseed. Hisss esssssence," Essssme says, sitting down in her seat on the other side of Carlisssss, then ladling a spoon full of the soup into her mouth.

She slurps it a little, and the sound of it makes something in my brain click. Seed. Essence. I look down into my bowl, and although it's not the same color, it _is_ the same texture. The fact that it is a liquid makes me want to puke my guts out.

I've recently bathed in the jizz of some fucking space creature. Just fucking wonderful.

My stomach churns, and I think I'm going to throw up. Actually, I know I am, but before I do, a horrible, painful, terrifying scream travels through the ship. At once, I know that it is coming from _him_.

Esssssme and Ah-lissss jump up at once and yell, "Edwaird."

I yell, "BANO!" All eyes fall on me, and I begin to run.


	4. Oh, the kidney -- bean

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 4: Oh, the kidney - bean**

Glossary:

**Ahhh-ghizhhhhhhh - a calming sound to soothe**

huhn huhn - the sound of their laughter

bringing back of wrist to touch underside of chin - meanings 1.) I cherish you 2.) acknowledges someones youth

Shahn - No

Coupling - twin; dual birth

Shellssss - bodies

Deitssska - their deity

Zzhoh-PLAH - Incoming attack; an explanation that kind of means "here we go"

**Bella's POV ~**

I sprint through the doorway of the kitchen, turn left down a hallway, come to a four-way intersection, and ... for crying out loud, I'm not even driving. In my head, I start reciting eenie meenie miney mo, but I hear foot steps behind me so I just choose to go straight. I think this is the right way, the way to him, BANO, Edwaird, whatever.

They are much faster than I am and catch up with me; I'm not even close to him, but I feel like I'm going into hysterics. Why are they stopping me? He is hurt, and I have to go! I just have to.

"Shahn," Essssme says, gently gripping my shoulder to stop me. I move to pull away, but she makes that noise that turns me into goo.

"Ahhh-ghizhhhhhhh. Calllm, Bell-a," Emmeet says in his voice that seems to be more high pitched by the minute.

And I do. I calm to slush in Emmeet's arms once again.

_Damn, I need to learn how to do that._

They carry me down a hall, and we pass through the room with the huge window again. This time the space sky is much darker than it was when I walked through here with Ah-lisssss to relieve myself.

Emmeet carries me through a set of intricately carved red doors and into a lounge area. The rest follow behind, and damn, once again the room is lined with those fucking kidney beans. I'm going to have to ask about that.

The room is a myriad of colors; I swear that Lucky Charms dude must have puked in here. My mouth waters a little at the thought of the cereal that I will probably never eat again. It isn't my favorite by any means, but it still holds a place close to my heart. The top cereal spot in my heart will eternally belong to Golden Grahams. However, I need to stop thinking about that before my stomach growls again, and I freak Emmeet out.

Emmeet walks over to a plush magenta-colored chair and gently sets me down in it. He walks to the couch adjacent and lies down on his stomach - probably so he doesn't squish the baby. A maniacal giggle escapes me, but they don't freak out this time. I imagine they are growing used to all the sounds I make that are odd or threatening to them.

The others file into the room and all take seats in random spots of the room. Essssme and Carlisss sit close together, and Roe-salie takes her usual protective stance over Emmeet. Jasssspeer fiddles with something over in the corner near what appears to be a bookshelf, but is not used for books, while Ah-lisssss takes the chair beside mine, fidgeting with an invisible seam on the sleeve of her garment.

As usual, Essssme speaks first, and I learn why as she begins to tell me of their family and their origin, of their home, and of why Edwaird (BANO!) is not hurt, but actually terrific right now.

I can't shake my worry, or figure out why I'm so worried about him.

oOo

Esssssme POV ~

It isssss time that the human female learned more about usssss. Edwaird hassss begun the mating call, ssssso it issss decided, Bell-a will be part of our tribe. Sssshe is the lasssst piece to make usssssss an entirety; Edwaird hasssss been waiting patiently, and hissss mate hasss come to him.

It will be besssst to ssstart with the beginning.

"Bell-a. I will tell you about ussss and where we originate."

Ssshe leans back in the chair, and I am privy to noticccce the way that Ah-lissss appearssss protective of the human female. It is mossst appropriate in consssideration of her closssenesssss with her coupling**.

"Our tribe ssssserves one purpose. That purposssse is to aid our home planet, Sssssisla, in its protection. The individual tribessss of Sssssisla take ressssponsibility for varioussss occupationsss which are given freely to provide a higher quality of longevity for our people."

"My tribe, the Cul-len Tribe, isssss resssponsible for the most important occupation upon all of Sssisla, and that issss our home planet'ssss protection from rebelliousssss tribessss."

"Ssssisla is perhapssss the mosssst aged planet known. I've done ressssearch through our databassse and located much information about your planet Ea-rth. It issss a young planet, and your life cccycle issss not impressssive. Your aging expectancy topssss out at approximately 100 years, which equates 3 querassss for us. Our age is meassssured in this manner, and we carry out up to 12 querassssss, more if our shellsss** remain healthy."

"Thessse rebellion tribessss have been invading planet after planet in our galaxy, asssss well as others, sssscouring the land and taking whatever they prefer...if they possessss the brawn to do ssssso. They have attempted hundredsssss of attackssss on Ssssisla for the duration of our charge, and after we are gone, they will continue."

Bell-a moves her body in the chair and draws her oral skin flap into her orifice.

"Well, what do they want from you? How many times have they attacked, and if I may ask, how old are you?"

"Huhn, huhn." I tap the rear of my wrisssst to my chin. Bell-a lookssss around the room, awaiting reaction from the otherssss.

"They desire our deathssss above all, after that, they want to usssse up the resourcesss our land and home planet provide. They wishhhh to bleed it until it crackssss, then bleed further ssstill before they move onto the next planet. They are parassssites. They have never reached Ssssisla, because we have alwayssss defeated them, four timesssss. Each time they attack, it takes a great length of time to conquer them, and they sssslither away, only to rebuild and attack again. We have great armor and great weaponssss. They have never been a match for ussss."

Bell-a nibblessss on her oral sssskin flap and sssseems to contemplate all that I have exxxxxplained to her. Sssshe beginsss to sssspeak, but I remember that sssshe has requesssted information of me. I continue.

"Carlissss is six querassss, as am I. However, I am earlier in my ssssixth quera. Emmeet, Roe-salie and Jasssspeer are all in their mid-third quera while Ah-lisssss and Edwaird are in the beginning of their ssssecond quera. With the mated pair of Ah-lissss and Jasssspeer, it agessss Ah-lissss a bit more. Edwaird and Ah-lissss are of the ssssame birthing, but Edwaird is behind becaussssse he is not fully mated.

Bell-a'sssss pillar brow risessss, and I let her ssspeak this time. "Fully mated? What do you mean fully mated? Has he begun to mate with another of your kind?"

Panic beginsss to sssseep into her voice, and Ah-lissss leanssss closse to her head and buzzessss in her hearing sssshell. Bell-a'ssss skin ripples ever sssso sssslightly, but ssshe calmsss. Again, I explain.

"You are upset, child, and I believe that I understand the reassssson behind your upssssetting. You have feelingssss for our Edwaird." Bell-a beginsss to sshake her head, but I quickly continue, "Bell-a, the pairing isss decided, and asss much asss you may want to return to your planet Ea-rth, it issss not posssssible. It would causssse your final death. That issss ssssomething we can not allow, becausssse if you were to die, Edwaird would follow you to your death place."

Bell-a'ssss face changesss a little, and she asks, "Why would BAN-Edwaird follow me to my death place? He just met me."

"You are hissss fated mate, child. Ah-lissss hass deemed it true, and all things are are sssshown through Ah-lissss. It issss the will of Deitssska."**

Before I am able to continue, the blue light near the room's entrance illuminatesss. Emmeet sssees it at the sssssame time that I do, and he leapsss up from his chair. "Re-belssss," he ssscreechess and runsss toward the door. All at once, the ressst of my tribe is on our feet and running after Emmeet, moving through the corridorsss quickly toward the control room. Behind usss,Bell-a asks questions and sssstickss closssely to Ah-lisssss.

Thisss comforts me, that Bell-a will pair with Ah-lissss during thisss fight. The rest of our attentionssss mussst be spent on the oncoming attack.

oOo

Bella's POV ~

I pace around the room with all of the satelites and decide that it must be some kind of defense or control room. Emmeet sits at the large front window, steering the ship if you will, with Carlisss in the co-pilot's seat. Esme and Roe-salie tap on nearly invisible specks on the glass maps that sit vertically in front of them. I can't decide if they come from the ceiling or from the base that sits below them.

I stop to the left of Ah-lisss, who continuously makes circles on her temples with her fingers and keeps her eyes shut. Essssme and Roe-salie speak quickly, and it doesn't take me long to notice that while the men are piloting, it is the women who direct them in the act of this battle. It intrigues me. I want to ask Ah-liss why, but she looks too focused. I don't want to interrupt whatever it is she is doing.

At first, the attack seems mild. Every once in a while I hear Esssssme say something in exasperation, then Roe-salie yell something, and all will be quiet again. This seems to go on for a while, and through most of it, Ah-liss remains in the same pose. I'm beginning to worry a little bit until she jumps from the chair she has been sitting in, and yells, "Zzhoh-PLAH!"

The force of her voice startles me, causing me to jump.

Everything gets crazy then, and a couple of minutes later, the entire ship shakes with the force of an attack. I'm thrown off of my feet, falling to the floor as the ship heaves out of control.

"Bell-a! Take sssssafety!" Esssme shouts at me as she begins to furiously punch at more little specks on the glass screen. I run over toward Ah-lisss, and ssshe gripssss onto me, hauling me through the door of the control room and through the maze of hallways to a different area of the ship. The ship sways this way and that, and I find it hard to stay on my feet. There are several instances when the ship is jolted, and both Ah-lisss and I are thrown against the wall of the hallway, before falling to the floor. The second the ship is righted, Ah-lissss jumps to her feet, pulling me behind her, and runs once again.

When we turn down the last hallway, I realize where we are, and my tummy flutters a little. We slow down now that we are outside of BANO's door, and she grips my hand once we stand just outside of his room.

"Edwaird will sssleep. He musst sleep to endure his transssition to the mating phase. Pleassse, be careful with him. I promissse to retrieve you the ssssoonest I am able," Ah-lissss explains. She seems to think on something a minute, then tips her forehead to mine and rests it there for a second. She gently pulls away, waves her hand across BANO's door sensor, and flees back toward the control room.

The door of BANO's room begins to slide shut, and I squeeze through before I can't fit. As Ah-lisss said, he sleeps upon his massive bed, tangled in the sheets and whimpering every once in a while. I look around to find something to do, but the ship jolts several times, and I decide that sleeping through the worst of this might be the best idea.

I walk over to the fucking kidney-bean shaped couch on the wall farthest from where BANO...Edwaird sleeps and sit down. It feels kind of spongy, and I sink into it a little. It isn't so bad. I lay down, but I can't get comfortable, as it's too spongy. I stand up and begin to pace the room until the ship shudders once again. I'm thrown from my feet, landing at the foot of the bed, and wait for the ship to even out before I attempt to stand.

He speaks then, and though he isn't awake, I can't shake the heat that slices through my core at the sound of his velvety voice speaking my name. It's music to my ears, like a symphony, all the angels heaven can muster harmonizing in a beautiful chord just for me. The sound moves all throughout my body, making me feel as though white light has sprouted out through my toes, fingertips and through the top of my head.

I feel my head begin to go fuzzy when he moans and says my name again, and I can't help it when my legs give out on me, causing me fall on the bed. I feel whoozy, and for a second, I think I'm dreaming. All of a sudden, BANO is above me, with eyes closed, and scoops me up into his arms, moving toward the head of the bed. He lays me down, then nestles into my side, resting his face in the crook of my neck. I feel his breath on my neck, and I have to chant in my head, Ah-lisss' words. He needs to sleep, he needs to sleep. So, I close my eyes and do my best to level my breathing, unaware of when I finally fall asleep.

_My body floats on a plane of inner existence. Ripple waves course around, through, and over me. I feel a pulsing within me, and see it's luxurious color. At first look, it is a royal blue going on purple, but the pulse grows stronger and stronger and the color shifts and within it, I see white light that swirls to yellow and turns to a bright green. The bright green morphs to an emerald green, and this is where the color stays as I swim in its richness. This color: the smell of rain on a warm spring day, the feel of freshly cut grass under my feet, Charlie's smile after I've baked him cookies._

_The color begins to change again, but not visually. The feeling within me is what changes and suddenly, the green is surrounded by white with a dot of black in the center. Eyes surrounded by long, thick lashes. Reddish hair atop the head of a beautiful man. My BANO, my Edwaird. I want to call his name, I want my voice to shiver along his spine and weave its way into his nerves so that he will always feel me there, within him. I want his fingers to know every part of my body without ever needing to look upon it._

_His body moves over mine, and we tumble, round and round and round in our infinity. I will no longer be only me. To be only me would be utter loneliness. I feel my spirit travel through my finger tips and join his as I touch him. When his fingers gently grip onto my arms, I feel all the beauty of him enter me, residing in a space that my heart carved out just for him._

_The feeling is intense, and all through out my trunk, finger and toes, I feel heat. Heat in my ears as he leans in to whisper something to me. I have no idea what he says; I cannot hear his voice, but the sensation of his breath upon my ear is the most sensual thing I have ever felt in my life. I lift my hand up to trail the shell of his ear, and his head tips back, ecstasy written plainly on his face. _

_Our chests rise and fall together, quickly, and I begin to pant. We no longer tumble through air, but lay upon the greenest grass I've ever laid eyes on. I see yellow speckles at the tips of each individual blade of grass, and suddenly, Edwaird hovers over me. His mouth makes the shape of my name, but I cannot hear it, rather feel it reverberate through my chest. Sparks of lust lap through me, and I scream in a silent cry as I fall over the edge into oblivion. Edwaird's head tips back, and he lets go of a silent yet thunderous groan that pulls a second orgasm from me. I feel the rumble of it inside of my ribcage, it almost feels as though it moves apart to make room for him. _

I'm abruptly woken from the best dream I've ever fucking had in my life as I feel my body get thrown against the wall next to the bed. It knocks the air out of me, and I begin to panic, but see Edwaird's eyes open and looking at me. The fact that I've called him Edwaird and not BANO does not go unnoticed in my head, but now, since that dream, he is only Edwaird. My Edwaird. I open my mouth to ask him what is going on, but I can't say anything as I feel his fingers trace my lips. They begin to tingle, and after only a few moments of this, his hand falls back to the bed. With his eyes drifting shut once more, my name is a whisper falling from his mouth.

The ship jolts hard. This time I fly upward, hitting my head on the wall that is just a few feet above us, then fall back to the bed. Since Edwaird was already in a prone position, his body only lifts up slightly, leaving him to his heavy slumber. My vision swims with spots as I lay on the bed, trying to come through the battering to my body. It's of no use because my vision goes black, and I remember nothing.

Through the haze of a dreamless sleep, there is a fuzzy scenario that plays out in front of me. Surely I must be dreaming this, but my limbs feel heavy, like I'm awake but groggy.

The door to Edwaird's room slides open, and Carlissss is about to take a step through, with Esssssme following. His foot stops mid-air, and he does not come all the way in. Esssme begins to speak rapidly, but in a hushed tone, and behind she and Carlissss, I see Ah-lissss stopping abruptly.

Carlisssss slowly backs away from the door and down the hallway, never turning his back from the door. The second the two women step through the doorway, something inside of me breaks, and I feel the urge to stand over my Edwaird, bear my teeth at the two women, and make them leave.

"He is _mine!" _I spit at them through my teeth.

Esssme buzzes through her teeth, but for some reason, it doesn't work on me this time. It infuriates me, and I feel a rumble move up from my throat and escape my mouth. A menacing growl comes out of me, and both women are taken aback by it. They quickly recover and Ah-lisss grabs some kind of a blanket from the kidney-bean couch. They stalk closer, and I feel more threatened the closer they come.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know they won't hurt him, or me for that matter, but whatever protective emotion I'm feeling right now, I can't put aside. I hope they realize I mean no harm.

They stalk closer yet, and I growl once more. Edwaird stirs a little, and I look down at him. That is when Ah-lisss pounces on me. My head is covered with the blanket, and they both buzz loudly at me. I can't fight their combined efforts, and I fade.


	5. Beacon

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 5: Beacon**

**Glossary:**

Poo-hwhit - OF COURSE!

**Bella's POV ~**

I wake up with a start, alone and lying on a bed next to a huge window that provides a view of open space. The stars aren't incredibly visible, their luminescence drowned out by the subtle light of a distant sun. Something courses through my veins that I can't quite comprehend. I feel emotionally drained, like I've just dealt with the death of a close friend or parent - Charlie. At the thought of his face, tears begin to slide down my cheeks, and I spend several moments to gently crying.

I won't ever see my dad again - never be able to make him supper, drink a beer with him, or watch him twist that damn mustache of his - and all I want right now, is to be comforted by him, for him to tell me that things are going to be okay, that I'm strong and I can make it through this. Because that is exactly what he would say...ever the optimist.

I don't feel optimistic though. My tears flow more freely, and I lay back down on the bed, watching space go by as we travel to wherever it is we are going.

Sisla. Sisla is where we're going. I have no idea what they intend to do with me when we get there.

All of a sudden, images begin to flash in my head, and I remember what happened in Edwaird's room. Calling him BANO no longer feels right to me, which tells me that something major happened in there, but what?

We were under attack. Ah-lissss left me in Edwaird's room. He brought me to him in his sleep. I gasp loudly. Holy _shit!_ The dream. What the fuck _was_that?

At just the memory of it, my body begins to heat up, and I feel incredibly turned on. I wonder how hard it would be to get back to Edwaird's room from here. Apart from feeling totally horny, I feel lost, like part of me has been ripped away and stowed within arm's reach, not close enough to grasp onto it. I see more images in my head and remember it all now, remember Ah-lisss saying something about the first mating ritual sequence being completed as I hissed and spat at them in my attempt to protect my Edwaird.

_My Edwaird?_

Things are seriously fucked. What am I going to do? I feel a rollercoaster of emotions. One second I want to cry, the next I'm turned on, and now, I feel anger that I was pulled away from Edwaird.

I sit up from the bed, looking around to see if I can find the bathroom, when I notice there is a pile of clothing over on the couch (kidney bean shaped, of course). I untangle myself from the sheets and move to retrieve them. There are three doors for me to choose from. I begin to walk toward the first door, but I hear a buzzing from behind me. I swirl around to see what's behind me, but see nothing. The buzz begins again, and this time, something over by the door lights up. I walk over and wave my hand over the sensor, opening it. Essssme and Ah-lissss stand there, and I step back so that they may enter.

"Bell-a. We are mosssst inclined to offer you our apologiesssss for the eventssss that transssspired earlier," Esssme says.

Ah-lisss gets very close to me, invading my personal space, and looks in my eyes. "Yesssss, Bell-a. I am mosssst intuitive on the mattersssss of the mating ritual, but with the attack on our sssssship, I did not sssssee it. I requessssst your utmosssst forgiveness," Ah-lisss announces in a sort of formal way, then bends over slightly and looks toward the floor. She stays this way, and Esssme watches me expectantly.

I don't really know what to do, so I do the first thing that comes to mind, raising my hand to pat the back of Ah-lisss' head gently. She immediately rights herself and makes a motion almost like a curtsey.

"I own much happinessss, Bell-a. We are all mossst content with thissss arrangement," Esssme says, taking my hands in hers.

My gaze bounces between Esssme and Ah-lisss confused. They both seem very happy about something, and I remember what Ah-lisss said. "Wait. You said something about a mating ritual. What are you talking about?" I look at Esssme and ask, "What arrangement?"

Essssme walks us over to the kidney bean, and we sit down. "The arrangement between yoursssself and our Edwaird. For you have mated, of coursssse."

She says nothing more, and I think about what their words mean, what they_actually_ mean. I don't remember having sex with Edwaird, and while I may have really _really_ wanted to, I didn't. I would have remembered, but then I remember the dream. I remember the way I felt and how, even now, being away from Edwaird makes me feel a little empty inside. Well, very empty inside. I open my mouth to ask them something, but nothing comes out. The words die on my tongue as I recall the colors of the dream.

A breathy sigh escapes me and beside me, Ah-lissss makes a tinkling noise. I look over at her, and ask, "What was that? Did you laugh?"

Ah-lisss tries out my word a couple of times, "Loffff. Lafffff?"

I smile, showing teeth, and they cringe. I quickly hide them behind my hands, and repeat, "Laugh. You know. Ahahahahahahahaha. Laugh. When something is funny or amusing."

"Ah-musssing. Yessss, **huhn huhn**," Esssme says, seeming to get it now.

Esssme rises from the couch, and Ah-lissss follows her over toward the door, suddenly stopping and turning back toward me. "I musssst not forget. I retrieved thissss from the uniform we disssscovered you in," Esssme says as she reaches into a pocket of her outfit. She hands over my iPod, and I want to tackle her to shower her with kisses. I'm so happy. Finally, something from home that I can recognize.

She hands it to me, and I hug it to my chest, elated at their gift of the return of my iPod. "Thank you so so much. Truly."

Ah-lisss cocks her head to the side, looking at the gadget I hold in my hands...cradle to my chest.

"You are very excccited to reccceive thissss, Bell-a. May I inquire to the ussse of that object?" she asks, eyeing it almost as if it could be a weapon.

"Oh, sure, I mean yes. This is my iPod."

"Ayyyye-pod? We are unfamiliar with thissss technology," Ah-lisss says, nodding her head toward my hands.

"It stores music, and then I plug my earbuds into this hole here," I point out the hole to them and they peer into it like it holds the answers to the universe, "and the music travels to my ears, so I can hear it."

"Poo-hwhit!" Essssme exclaims, pulling something else from her pocket. My earbuds. She hands them over to me daintily, like if she touches them for too long, they will taint her in some way.

I accept my earbuds from her and take the plug-in end of it, inserting it into the hole. Ah-lisss' eyes brighten, and she looks simultaneously excited and nervous. I place the left bud in my ear and hold the right one out to Essssme, but she backs away quickly, as though frightened. I offer it to Ah-lisssss, and she considers it for a few moments, looking at the offering in my hand. She looks to Esssme, then back to me, and gently takes the other earbud from my fingers. We have to stand kind of close because of the length of the cord, but she follows my lead and puts the earbud in her right ear.

I mess with the volume setting on my iPod before I find a playlist to choose a song from. I chuckle a little but keep it quiet, scroll to the third song, then hit play.

"RAH, RAH, AH, AH, AH. ROMA, ROMA, MA!" The earbuds play, and I watch as Ah-lissss' eyes get huge. She looks at Esssssme and back to me. Before I realize what she is doing, she snatches the iPod from my hands, pulling the bud from my ear and runs from the room. I am totally taken by surprise and completely unsure if she is absolutely disgusted with my iPod or absolutely in love with it.

I look from the doorway over to Esssssme, dumbfounded. She has her hand raised up and covering her mouth as her shoulders shake ever so slightly. "Huhn huhn. Child. It isssss a sssstrong possssibility that you will not have your deviccce returned to you. Ah-lisssss sssseems quite fond of it. What isssss itsss function?"

"It plays music," I tell her, still slightly shocked by Ah-lisss' reaction.

"Conccccciato. Muuuussssic. Ah-lissss will be advissssed to return your devicccce. Make your preparationssss. You may have sssssome time to yourselfff, and I will return for you sssssoon." Esssssme turns and walks out of the room, and I'm left there standing alone, thinking about the iPod that I had for just an instant before it was taken again.

Ah-lissss' facial expression was priceless, and I believe that I will get it back, so I don't dwell on it. Instead, I pick the clothes back up from the bean couch and walk to the first door, waving my hand in front of the censor. I get it right the first time, finding a bathroom and wonder what the other door is, but decide I can just find out later.

I quickly get undressed and find a bristly square object that I guess could be a brush, quickly running it through my hair. There is a mirror and although I'm not sure if I want to see how horrible I look, I chance a glance anyway.

I'd been able to steal glimpses of myself here and there, but it was always in the reflection of windows, never a real mirror. Each time I was able to get a decent look at myself, it was enough to make me look away. There had been dark circles under my eyes, and I wasn't looking so great. I guess pretty much dying and being brought back to life would do that to a person.

I barely recognize the woman that looks back at me from the mirror this time. Her skin is pinkish, she looks incredibly healthy, and her brown eyes sparkle. Her hair looks longer than I think it should. That woman is me. How can that be me?

I shake myself and turn towards the shower. There are no walls to it, only a drain on the floor; there are also no handles to turn the water on. How am I going to do this? I look around in the large space, attempting to locate some kind of a handle or button to turn the shower on. Then I see a smaller silver panel, much like the ones used to open doors in this place. I walk over to it, waving my hand in front of it, and the water immediately begins to spray out at me. Wicked!

I lean over to feel the water, but it's quite cold. I don't know how to make the water warmer so I examine the panel closely. I see one little red light, which must be the sensor, and nothing else. What the fuck am I going to do? I can't take a freezing cold shower! I push on the metal plate with one hand, trying to figure something out, while I keep my other hand under the spray of the water to gauge the temperature. Nothing changes, and I'm beginning to get frustrated. I just want to relax under a hot fucking shower.

I throw one hand up in frustration, and all of a sudden, the spray on my hand gets warmer - not quite hot, but still, warmer. What did I do?

I push on it again to see if I'd hit some kind of a button or temperature sensor on the panel, but nothing works. I try to repeat my exact action the last time, finally, throwing my hand up in the air again. The water gets warmer, and I get it.

I put my hand out flat, palm up, then slowly raise it upward in front of the sensor, and the water gets much warmer, warmer, hot. BINGO! That's fucking awesome!

I step under the spray, and unexpectedly, water starts coming at me from several different nozzles that weren't there before. Some pulse hard, around my neck and shoulders, and some feel like rain, and still others drum out a tingly pattern on my skin.

And you know, I _just_ can't help it that there is one that is at eye-level with my *ahem* cooch. And you know what? It feels good. Really. Fucking. Good.

Green eyes flash in my mind along with a mess of crazy bed hair, and my hand travels south. I navigate around the 70's bush I have from being out in space for so long without a razor and gently rub my finger across my favorite spot.

"Oh, yess. Right there." I moan out loud. Please, God, don't let them have video cameras or something in the bathroom.

The water continues to pulse against my pussy, and I work my finger against it, rubbing, flicking, and then pushing inside of me. I close my eyes, the water trailing over my neck and down my back, and I pretend that the caress of water belongs to my Edwaird. Yes. My Edwaird. My hand is no longer my hand in my mind; it's his, and he pumps into me from behind me with the fingers of one hand, while his other arm wraps around my torso, fingers grazing my nipple.

In my mind, I picture Edwaird holding me, caressing me and my body begins to respond not to my hand, but to his, through my mind of course. The tension in my stomach begins to grow, and it doesn't take long until I overflow, orgasming over his (my) fingers. I keep my eyes closed, attempting to keep him there with me in any way I can. I imagine him coming around to the front of me, looking in my eyes, and I feel like Edwaird _is _actually looking at me. His eyes penetrate me, and it seems like he _is_ here with me.

I gasp and open my eyes to find that I'm still alone in the shower. I finish up my shower, not knowing where to look for soap or shampoo, so I just rinse off the best I can before stepping out of the spray. I grab an uber soft towel that is ridiculously huge, wrap it around my body, and am again faced with the shower dilemma. How the fuck do I turn it off now?

Knowing there are no buttons on the panel, I do the only thing that makes sense. Instead of raising my hand up for heat, I push my hand toward the floor in front of the sensor, reaching into it to make sure that it gets colder. It does, and I keep lowering my hand until the water turns off.

HA!

I dry myself off, quickly get dressed in the clothes they've given me, then use that bristly brush again. I wave my hand over the door sensor and emerge into the bedroom I slept in last night. I notice that someone was in while I was showering to make the bed, then I see my iPod resting on the kidney bean table beside it. I remember that the ring that Charlie got me for my college graduation is still in the bathroom, so I quickly go back in to retrieve it.

Although I just left the bathroom just a minute ago, when I walk back in, it is_totally_ dry. This really doesn't seem possible because it was soaking wet in here, since there aren't any walls to the shower. I shake my head in disbelief and grab my ring from where I left it, returning to the bedroom.

I don't really know what to do or where to go from here. I don't know my way around the ship very well yet or how they would feel about me wandering around alone, so instead, I begin to move around the room, inspecting all of the little artifacts, books and paintings. The books are all printed in lettering that resembles the ancient Greek alphabet but is slightly different. There are little whistles that seem to be carved from the bone of an animal, but the most intriguing thing is that the bone is green, actually green, not dyed to look that way. I see the shell of something, and it looks like a turtle on Earth would.

I hear the buzzing sound again and quickly walk over to the door to open it. I step back, knowing it will be Essssme and Ah-lissss again. To my surprise, Roe-salie also walks into the room behind them. She is looking at me very funnily, and I want to ask her if something is wrong. My track record with Roe-salie has not been the greatest in my short time on this ship, so I hold my tongue. Still, something about her expression makes me feel like she is accepting me in her own way. I don't know why she would do that so suddenly, because I've done nothing differently.

"Greetingssss, Bell-a," Essssme and Ah-lisss say at the same time. Roe-salie says nothing, only walks past me, and as she does, her ear holes slide open. I quickly look away, not wanting to be caught staring, instead looking to Ah-lissss. She is lifting my hair up and inspecting it, then holding her finger against it like she is measuring it. Maybe it isn't just me; maybe my hair has grown significantly since I've been here, or even within the last two days.

Ah-lissss notices me watching her and looks up at me, dropping the strand of hair and doing that strange "O" face she makes. I think it is her smile or something.

"Bell-a. It isss the time of our sssscheduled informative meeting. We would be pleassssed if you would join us," Essssme invites. I nod my head at her then follow her and Ah-lisss out of the room, with Roe-salie trailing us. With her walking behind me, I feel nervous, until I remember that my iPod was returned to me.

Just as I open my mouth to thank Ah-lissss for returning it to me, I hear the beat a familiar song. We turn into the open doorway of the room we met in the last time, and there is no possible way that I will be able to contain my laughter this time.

There are no words to explain the sight in front of me, and while I wonder how they extracted it from my iPod, I don't dwell on the question for very long. I feel Roe-salie move up along side of me and lean close to my ear. I wonder if she is angry for what my music has done.

"He refuses to let us turn this off. Jasspeer wrote a program to adapt to your deviccccce and transssssferred the data over." She nodded toward Emmeet, who was dancing on top of a table and wearing a ridiculous red scarf around his head. "My mated one hassss not felt sssso animated for ssssome time. I musssst offer you my gratitude, Bell-a," Roe-salie admitted.

This time, I don't even try to hold in my laugh. It erupts out of me loudly, and I have to admit that as unladylike as it is (not that I've ever been ladylike), I snort. What makes it completely impossible for me to contain myself is that not only is Emmeet dancing - with his preggo fanny pack and all - but Carlissss is also dancing, doing what only I can describe as the Egyptian.

Having heard my laughter, Essssme looks over at me, smiling and showing her teeth (ha, they _do_ show their teeth), then announces, "LOFF!"

I nod at her and move further into the room. Roe-salie follows behind me, and as the dancing goes on, I wander around the room, Roe-salie trailing close behind, almost like a puppy would follow his owner. What the hell? I eventually come to a stop over by the bean couch and sit down. The song is coming to an end, and Emmeet goes over to play it again. Essssme stops him.

I feel my hair being played with, realizing it is Roe-salie, and all I can wonder is what the fuck? She practically hated me before, and now, she is treating me like her Barbie doll. I remain still, letting her play with it because, if I'm honest, it feels kind of good.

Emmeet finally starts to get down from the table, but as he crouches to lower himself from the table, he farts. At the same time, everybody in the room says in some announcing kind of way, "POOF!" Now, the fact that they announce farts like this is absolutely hysterical, but even funnier is that when they say it, all of their voices take on a kind of synthesized sound.

I laugh so hard that my gut hurts. I laugh so long that I cry. When I look up, everyone is staring at me funnily. Finally and in all seriousness, Essssme says, "Loff," again.

I rein it in, wiping my tears away, and wait for our meeting to begin. Then, I notice that Ah-lissss is sitting alone on her chair. Jasspeer is not in the room for our meeting.

"Where is Jasspeer?" I ask.

Esssme looks at Ah-lissss, then at me, and explains. "Jasspeer is in the control room. He musssst be there for we are nearing Sssisla. He mussssst communicate with our Beacon ssssso that we may return home."

"Wait. What is the Beacon?" I ask, totally confused.

"The Beacon controlssssss the admittancccce and exxxxit to our planet. It isss the only way that we can protect our planet from outsssside attacksssss. The Beacon will only sssspeak with one soul per ship, for the protection of the ssssecret," Essssme continues.

"What's the secret?"

"The sssecret isss the code. It isss a ssspecial pulse or radio current that issss sssingular to our ssssship and our ssship alone. Jasssspeer mussst communitcate the messsssage with the Beacon reccccceptor to announccce who we are. Only in thisss way will we be granted admittancccce to our home."

I nod along, processing all that she has said in my mind. With every new explanation she gives me, more questions pop up. I feel kind of guilty for giving her the third degree, but hey, I'm learning.

"So..." I look over at Ah-lissss, hoping my next question won't bother her, "what happens if for some reason, your communicator for the ship is gone or you can't find him?" I watch Ah-lisss, seeing her swallow thickly but saying nothing.

"There mussst always be a Beacon communicator, for if we have none, we would be losssst here, left to fall in the deepesssst space. Should we not have a communicator, we request to replaccce them."

"And how do you do that?" I fire back.

"We would ssssend out our dissstressss ssssignal. When they ressspond, if they ressspond, we requessst a new communicator, then we go through a processs to prove whom we are," Essssme answers, not seeming bothered by my questions.

"So, if you still have your communicator, but for some reason, they forget the signal or code or whatever, then what do you do? Can you get a new signal?" I ask, totally intrigued.

"Yessss. It isss basically the same process if we have to assssign a new communicator. The difference isss if we still have our original communicator, the signal replacccement is much fasssster."

I nod and settle into the couch a little more, thinking over all the information and processing it as quickly as I can. If Jasspeer is already preparing to communicate, then we must be close.

"Just how close are we?" I ask, suddenly feeling a little panicky, my stomach starting to hurt a little.

Ah-lissss answers me this time. "Jasssspeer just made his first attempt at contact with the Beacon. If we calculate it in your time measssurement, we will arrive in closssse to two daaaays."

I nod my head and relax into the couch again. The feeling in my stomach is getting worse, and I begin to worry that something is wrong. Needing to take my mind off of it, I remember I wanted to ask about Emmeet.

"Oh! Okay. So, how is it that the males are the ones who carry a child? Where I'm from, the woman are impregnated by the men and carry the child to term. Not the other way around."

All the while this has been going on, Roe-salie has still been standing behind me and playing with my hair. I reach back to touch it, feeling some sort of twist or braid, and she slaps my hand away. I rest it back in my lap, picking at my already short fingernails and waiting for an answer.

"There issss one thing you musssst undersssstand about ussss, Bell-a. Our mating, it isss for life. We choossse one partner, and we remain devoted to them. We nurture, we connect our ssoulsssss, twine them to make one," I look over to Carlisssss as he begins to answer my question, amazed at the tenor of his voice and the sweetness in his gaze when he eyes his mate.

Essssme leans over, their ears touching gently, and he continues. "Before we are mated, you would ssssee that as malessss, we act foolissssh. No matter what age we mate, we will not begin to have valuable wissssdom and prudencccce until the time of our full mating. All of our kind will mate, assss there issss 'one' for all of ussss. The meeting of our mate can take a very long time, but it will come."

"How long did Edwaird wait?" I feel myself glowing crimson, embarrassed and slightly nervous about admitting that I am his "one."

"Only sssslightly longer than I waited, and he isss changing fasssst. Thisss is the reasssson for hisssss need of continuoussss ressst." Carlisss tells me, looking me in the eye.

Something about the way he explains it all makes me think of a soul mate. While it can be called a myth on Earth, it seems real for them. I give them my name for this. "Soul mate."

Essssme looks at me. "Ssssoul mate?"

"Yes. The 'one' for you is a soul mate to me, but for me, or where I'm from, it doesn't always happen."

At my admission, there is a gasp in the room, and they shake their heads like this is a huge travesty. I shrug my shoulders, and a sharp twist goes through my gut. It passes quickly, though, and I push it aside, figuring I have gas.

"So why do I feel so protective of Edwaird? I mean, the way I was earlier, when you came to retrieve me from his room after the attack, that is _not_ me!" I explain, hoping that they don't think I'm some vicious bitch.

Ah-lisss answers this time. "Bell-a, you and Edwaird have completed the firsssst sssequence of the mating ritual. It issss different for every mating pair, but we have wayssss of telling that it hassss been ssstarted."

"How can you tell that?" I ask, feeling a little more flustered and incredibly embarrassed now.

"Our reccceptors sssense the change in you. There are waysss for usss to recognize the changessss, like sssmell and the color around you," Ah-lisss answers again.

"Wait, so you can like, see my aura?" Okay, now I'm just in awe.

"Aura? Isss that what you call it? For usss, the name issss the Misssst, but yesss, we can sssee it," Ah-lisss says then goes to stand over by the door. She keeps looking at me funnily, almost expectantly, and I don't really know what to make of it.

I remember the one question that I really want to ask. "Oh! So, how exactly does the pregnancy with the male carrying the baby work?" I ask.

Essssme says something, but suddenly, I can't hear her. I mean I can hear that she is speaking, but I can't focus on anything except the feeling inside of me. I feel as though someone has wrapped a set of heavy chains around my waist from the inside and is slowly pulling on them, beckoning me forward. I stand up and begin to pace, feeling like a caged animal and notice that their discussion has stopped while they watch me. Roe-salie again follows me, and I growl at her. She backs off a little, going to stand over by Esssme, who whispers something to Carlissss.

Then, I hear my name being said, in a whisper.

"Bell-a." It sounds like Edwaird, but he is in his room.

I look at the intercom, but no one else seems to have noticed it. I wonder why they didn't hear that. The sound of water rushing in my ears starts, dull, then begins to get louder, and I hear the "Bell-a" again, but this time it sounds more frantic. I know it is my Edwaird. My Edwaird needs me.

Just as I'm beginning to feel so agitated and nearly torn in half by this invisible chain, I find myself next to Ah-lisss, by the door. She looks in my eyes, and all of a sudden I understand she knows exactly what is going on with me. At the same time, I realize I fucking heard Edwaird calling my name in my Goddamn head. This shit is fucking weird.

Ah-lisss gets it; she grabs my hand, pulling me from the room, and we begin to run. I run as though my life, or his, depends on it, and I pray to God that that is not the case. Everything here is so new, so it could mean anything. As we get closer to him, my body begins to feel less and less like it is going to shatter.

That is when I notice a bit of anger seeping into my thoughts and as soon as I notice it, Ah-lisssss stops abruptly and drops my hand.

"You feel it, Bell-a. You have made Edwaird yourssss. The feeling you have now, to make ssssure no other female ever nearsss Edwaird will go away, but thissss is what happensss."

With that, Ah-lissss turns around and begins to run back toward the control room. I'm left facing his shiny door, finally feeling only love, devotion and total fucking lust.

Did I just say love? Oh yes, yes I did.


	6. About Freaking Time

In The Deepest Space

Chapter 6: About Freaking Time

Glossary:

**Mexxsssssh - Shit**

ccccccicatricccccce (cicatrice) - an actual word; another name for a scar

Bella's POV ~

I stand before the silver door, ready to burst through it but scared to at the same time. _He_ is on the other side of that door, and I don't even know what I will begin to say to him. What should I say? What will he say?

I take a deep breath and resolve myself to the fact that this is a first for both of us. I mean, he is a fucking alien for crying out loud, and well, I'm an alien to him, too. This is new and bizarre territory, and neither of us really know how it is going to go.

Taking one more deep breath and mustering any bit of confidence I have in me, I move my hand over to the door panel and wave it in front of the "announcement" sensor. I look ahead for a second as I wait for the door to open, but it doesn't. Now, I feel nervous. I look down at my feet and feel like I've been standing here a while. A little seed of rejection begins to sink in, and I decide that maybe this has all just been in my head. Maybe, he doesn't want me at all and maybe it was just some fucking cracked out dream.

The door slides open. I have to coax myself into lifting my head up to look at him. There. Are. No. Words.

Edwaird appears to have just gotten out of the shower. He has a towel slung over his shoulder (looking very human, by the way), and his hair is wet, making it appear darker. He is wearing what appears to be lounging clothes with no shoes and no socks. Finally, I get the nerve to look him in the eyes, and when I do, the only way I can explain his expression is that he looks like he wants to consume me.

My tummy twists in nervousness and, if I'm honest, a little bit of lust. Okay, a lot of fucking lust. Edwaird steps to the side to let me walk in. The door slides shut, and he waves his hand over the locking sensor, insuring that we'll have privacy. There is some kind of music that is playing softly, but I see neither the speakers or any kind of stereo. The only word I can find to describe the music is sensual. Both male and female sounding voices chant this "Ahn-huu-eeeen" sound and are accompanied by a variety of string instruments. I have no idea what they are; I've never heard anything like it.

The music soothes me a little bit, and while I'm still nervous, I'm not quite as nervous as I was when I was still staring at Edwaird's silver door. Edwaird is over by a little pop-out mini-bar looking thing and pours something into a glass. It looks like milk and is tinged pink. I think I may throw up in my mouth a little at the thought of him drinking the Ssssoom jizz that I bathed in. He turns around holding two glasses and must notice the look on my face, because he cocks his head to the side a little.

"If that is the 'seed of the Sssoom,' I can't drink that," I advise him, nervously.

He chuckles, but it vibrates in his chest a little, almost like he growls a little bit. I think I get a little wet from it. Well hell, okay, a lot wet from it. Edwaird's nostrils flare, and I feel my face growing crimson, remembering that he can probably smell my arousal, or taste it on my skin with his freaky ear hole receptors or something.

"Not the ssseed of the Ssssoom, Bell-a. Chobb expression. Or meelk. The Chobb growsss in the wild, will prepare your ssshell for what issss next," Edwaird explains. Now, I have to be honest and say that I had found Carlisss' voice to be sexy, but kill me fucking now. This man, my man, will forever be able to get whatever he wants from me for the rest of our lives just by speaking.

His voice is smooth, like honey dripping raw from the comb, like an invisible ribbon inside of my ribs weaving in and out, holding me together. It is deep, but not incredibly deep. Smooth, and still, there is a bit of that rumble, that growl that is able to turn me on in an instant.

Edwaird walks back over to me and holds one of the glasses out, waiting for me to accept it. His eyes never leave mine, and he waits, expectantly. I don't want to be rude so I accept the glass from him. I lift it to my nose and sniff at the liquid. It smells sweet, almost like baked apple pie, but than again, not really. I decide to give it a try because if it smells that good, it can't taste too horrible...right? God, I hope.

Just as I'm about to tip the glass to my lips, Edwaird reaches out and places his hand over the rim of the glass. I stop myself, and he moves my hand with the glass away from my mouth. He steps closer to me, leaving only one foot between our bodies, and he raises his glass up to my lips. I watch his eyes as he slowly begins to tip the rim of the glass, and finally, I open my mouth when I feel the room temperature liquid. Still watching him, I taste the sweet concoction.

It has a buttery texture, and as it hits all of the taste buds in my mouth, I feel different things happening in my body. Overall, I notice that I am growing warmer, and I feel like a live wire. I feel vivid and alight. Edwaird pulls the glass away and sets it on the table beside us. His eyes never leave mine, nor mine his. He then lifts his finger up to my mouth and wipes away the mustache the liquid has left behind on my upper lip. When he has wiped it all away, he raises his finger to his mouth and sucks the liquid from it, and I think I feel my knees go weak...a lot.

As I pick my glass back up from the table, he kneels down in front of me, realizing I won't be able to reach to tip the glass to his mouth. When he kneels before me, I bring the glass to his mouth and slowly tip it. His eyes stay on mine, and I have to look away at the glass to see how much is left, then pull the glass away.

Something about both of us having consumed this drink and the fact that we offered it to each other feels so significant. I'm not sure why it should, but it does. Edwaird begins to stand up, but I put my hand on his shoulder and quickly lower myself down to my knees directly in front of him.

"Bell-a," he whispers my name, making it sound like a plea.

I lean closer to him and take his head in my hands to pull him down to my level. Then, I turn his head a little, and in his ear, I murmur his name, "Edwaird."

He shivers a little and, so quickly that I barely realize it, turns to me. Our lips come together, aligning perfectly, and I feel my lips begin to tingle. I guide his head to one side a little with my hands and slide my tongue out to taste his lips. He moans against me and opens his mouth to my attentions. His breath is sweet from the drink, but there is something more to it than that. I can't explain how he tastes, but I know it should be illegal, the way he tastes. I wonder if we will ever be able to leave this room, because I may never stop touching him, kissing him, loving him.

There's that word again.

A whimper escapes me, and Edwaird instantly stands us up. He backs me up against the wall and pins me there, pushing his body up against mine, and I can feel all of him. All. Of. Him.

And God is goooood.

I whimper into his mouth and push my body against him a little harder. He kisses me with passion, and soon, I have to pull away, panting and out of breath. He trails kisses down my neck, then stops, turning my head to the side a little. He is again searching for the holes that I don't have. When he turns my face back to his, he doesn't have the same confused expression he did the first time; this one, it is more like resolved acceptance.

"Exquissssite, Bell-a," he says quietly as he leans in to kiss me again.

His lips meet mine and touch gently; as his tongue slips out to meet mine, the ship shudders, and I sway on my feet. Edwaird captures me, steadying me, then looks at me with almost with an almost devious grin. One side of his mouth twitches up crookedly, and he winks at me.

The ship shudders once more, more gently than the last time, and Edwaird takes a step away from me. As I watch him, wondering why he has moved away from me, he slowly begins to rise up off of the floor. I open my mouth to tell him something is wrong, but then I notice that I'm moving, and it is not of my own doing.

"What's going on?" I ask in a slightly panicked tone.

"Quarrrantine."

He is near the wall now, and when he is able to reach it, he pushes off of it, gliding through the air towards me. He grabs onto me when he is close enough to reach my body. I'm guessing quarantine means that we have contacted the Beacon and are getting ready to get off of the ship. This loss of gravity is a fun surprise.

Edwaird slowly twirls me around in the air, and I laugh out loud, unable to contain my giddiness. He smiles at me and pulls me to him, holding the back of my head and staring deeply into my eyes.

I could swim in his eyes, the color of the rarest emerald ever mined. His finger sweeps behind my ear, where, if I were his kind, my holes would be, and I shiver at his touch. Something in me tightens from the contact behind my ears which seems kind of odd, but really, there is nothing normal about any of this.

I grab onto his shirt and pull him closer to me, and our mouths come together once again. So as not to lose him with our weightlessness, I wrap my legs around his waist, locking them behind his back. I feel his arousal, and I'm relieved that it feels the same way a human male's would.

He attacks my mouth then, and we kiss until my lips hurt. I can't get enough of his taste, and when I can no longer breathe, I pull away and tug at the bottom of his shirt. He moves far enough away from me to allow me to pull it up. He raises his arms, and with my weightlessness, he lifts me up by my hips a little so that I can pull the shirt all the way off. I let it go, and it floats toward the middle of the room.

I take several long moments to ogle his chest. He is slightly built but has a more languid frame than I expect. His chest is smooth, and he has defined pectorals and abs but still not like body builder ripped or anything. Across the top of his pecs, where his heart is, there is spattering of golden freckles, and a lump builds in my throat. They are familiar to me. What does that mean? He allows me time to look at him, and finally, I bend my head to his chest and kiss the freckles.

When I look back up at his face, there is something there in his eyes that I can't quiet explain. While there is definitely a look of hunger there, there is something else as well. I dare not say love, because I could never hope that he could feel that for me so soon, but it could be very close to it.

I lightly trace the pattern of the freckles with my finger and begin to trail it up Edwaird's body, over his collarbones, up the column of his neck, to the lobe of his ear, and finally behind and over his ear holes.

"What are these called? I ask in a whisper.

He swallows thickly before answering me in a deep voice, "Flain."

"Flain," I whisper as I trace around the holes, then dip my finger around the groove that curves the shell of his ear.

"Bell-a," he groans out my name, and it makes me grow wetter.

"Does that feel good, Edwaird?" I purr.

"The mossssst erogenoussss zzzzone we have, Bell-a. Your torture pleassssuressss me. I need you mossssst urgently."

He doesn't have to tell me twice!

I tighten my legs around his waist once again and feel his erection press against my clothed pussy. I need him, but I don't want to rush this. Shit, I don't even know if our parts work the same. For a second, I think that maybe I should worry about this, then decide that if we are able to bond in this way, it has to work. It's like animals in the wild, they don't do it if they aren't compatible.

Do it. Now I'm a fourteen year old pubescent boy. _Stop it Bella, sexy Alien sexin you up._

Edwaird kisses my neck and tries to go lower, but I'm still wearing my shirt which gives him a little trouble. I lift his face away for a second and pull my shirt over my head. Edwaird gasps when I'm revealed to him. Yeah, that's another thing here. No bras. They took mine away when they took my other, tattered clothes.

Not only does Edwaird get an up close and personal look at the girls, but he also sees my own little spackling of freckles across my chest that splay over my heart. Yes. It would seem we have very, very similar birthmarks. Edwaird doesn't even stare at my tits, but my birthmark instead. After he brushes his fingers over them several times, he looks up at my face and into my eyes.

"Desssstined duo," he announces, but his voice seems to have a bit of a question in it too.

I'm just as surprised by all of this is, but I don't know what destined duo means. Edwaird leans down and returns with a kiss to my chest. Then he begins to lick and nibble at my skin, and it is all I can do not to moan. It feels so good, and I decide I shouldn't hold it in. I need to let him know exactly how good he feels to me.

His mouth latches onto my nipple and gently sucks, and I practically scream out his name. Jesus God, his mouth is fucking magical. He tickles me with his tongue, making trails across my chest and over to my other nipple, but returns to the left one. He seems to favor that one, until he begins to lick and nibble down my torso.

He comes to the pants that I'm still wearing and gently tugs them down my legs. He quickly pulls them off of me and sets them free into the room, floating.

He moves to go back toward my stomach but I stop him. "Yours too. Take them off."

He grins at me then unties his pants and pushes them off his waist and underneath his feet, where the legs twist around, doing a dance of their own in the floating room. Edwaird's mouth resumes it's licking, tasting, and nibbling of my skin once again, but I need him closer to me. I need to feel him against me.

I grab his arms and twist us a little. We float out into the middle of the room unintentionally, but it works because our momentum causes his back to hit the far wall. I collide into him, and this time, I can feel his rigid erection so much more, since I only have my boycut panties on and he his weird undergarment. He gasps at the sensation, and I attack his mouth once more, needing him now more than ever. I grip his hair tightly, and our tongues dance. His breath is my breath, and I whimper into his mouth. He groans loudly, and I rub up against his cock, desperate to get the friction I need.

He groans louder and moves his hand down to the top of my panties. He looks in my eyes, and I smile to let him know that I want it too. He pulls them down, and I hook my fingers into the waistband of his underwear. Rather than waiting for his permission, I pull them down quickly.

Phew, looks the same as a human male's cock, but big. Damn big. _Yum._

"Oh, God," I mumble as we both take in the view.

I put one of my hands on his chest and the other around his neck, holding him close to me. While I keep the one hand on his neck, I trail the other hand down his torso until I feel his hip, then the wiry hair of his happy patch. Edwaird sucks in a breath, and I trace the head of his cock with my finger.

He growls loudly, and I think I could almost orgasm at just that sound. I palm the rest of him then and squeeze him gently in my hand. He loses control then and flips us around so that I am now against the wall. His fingers go between my legs as he kisses and sucks at my neck. I feel his fingers on my thigh, so close, but not yet where I need them. I feel him trace over the rectangular scar on the inside of my thigh a few times, then finally, his fingers graze the Promised-land.

He removes his mouth from my neck and looks at me. We watch each others faces as he pushes a finger inside of me, and it is all I can do to keep eye contact with him because my eyes desperately want to roll back into their sockets. I moan loudly, and he adds another finger and plunges deeper into me; I buck against his hand but, it isn't enough.

"You. Please, just you, Edwaird," I beg him.

He leans in and lightly kisses my lips as he pulls his fingers from me. I feel him take hold of his own dick, then feel the head of it at my entrance.

He pauses there, looking me in the eye, and says, "Misssst, mated pair. Bell-a isss mine." Then, he plunges into me.

Holy fucking rainbows! I scream at the force and pleasure. It stings a little, but as he begins to move slowly in me, the slight pain subsides. He slides in, then most of the way out, and back in. Our mouths find each other once again, and I want to crawl inside of him forever. I want him to take up residence inside of me and never ever leave.

He works me over, and I kiss his neck and trace the shell of his ear because that really affects him. I play with his cute nipples, and he pumps into me. I never want to stop, but his cock is magical. Soon, I begin to feel my tummy tighten

Edwaird is groaning loudly and whispering my name over and over again. Fuck, I am so in love with him, and whatever it is I can do for him, I will do it. And so help me God, if any woman ever looks at him the wrong way, I will rip her fucking head off. He is mine and mine only.

Edwaird speeds up his thrusting, and I think he is getting closer. I look up at his face and notice that I can see a whitish-blue halo of light around his head. All of a sudden, I begin to feel really heavy inside, like all of me is ready to burst, erupt, and I'm not sure what will be left of me. He pumps and pumps and pumps, and fuck he feels so fucking good inside of me. He grabs my leg and hitches it higher around his waist and pumps forcefully into me. I scream, tumbling into sweet, blissful, orgasmic oblivion. He pumps one more time and roars out his pleasure, continuing to pump through his orgasm until we both slump a little.

As we both try to catch our breath, Edwaird pulls me to him, holding me to his chest and running his finger around the shell of my ear. It tingles and actually makes me a slightly horny again. How the fuck is that possible? Everything about this place makes everything so raw. All of my senses are so heightened, and it is both refreshing and tiring.

I think about the alien/man that holds me to him ,and I can't deny that I feel a sense of wholeness, completeness. The phrase "_you complete me"_ runs through my head, and I roll my eyes at the tackiness of my own thoughts. Freaking cheesy movie lines. "_You had me at hello."_ Yes, he certainly did, although I'm pretty sure there was no "hello" involved. Maybe a growl. Yeah, I think there was a growl, and arm smelling. That's my man.

So suddenly we don't have time to prepare ourselves for it, we lose the non-gravity. There is a loud clicking sound, and we fall a couple of feet to the floor. I am mostly cushioned by Edwaird, but he grunts as he meets the floor. I quickly scramble out of his lap and whip around, crouching down in front of him to make sure he is still in one piece.

"Mexxsssssh!" he explains, and again, I have no idea what it means.

"Are you okay?" I wave my hands in front of his face frantically and pull it up to look at me so that I can see his eyes. We fell quite far.

He quickly stands up from the floor and pulls me to him, checking my body over to make sure that I'm alright. He lifts a hand and brushes it over my freckles, then leans down to kiss me there. It makes me a little breathless, and I could totally go for round two, but he pulls away.

"It isssss the time of our arrival, Bell-a. We musssst return to our garmentssssss," he says but makes no move to leave.

He leans in and kisses me on the lips. Sweet, soft, and filled with passion. I think my knees could buckle, but he pulls away, then crouches down, now pussy-level. He grabs hold of my left leg and turns my knee out a little, running his finger over my rectangular scar.

"You mussssst educate me on the origin of thisssss ssssskin ccccccicatricccccce, Bell-a." Edwaird stands back up and moves over to a built-in wall cabinet, pulling various articles of clothing out of it.

He offers me a clean shirt, and I slide it on. The shirt that I'd worn into the room was more fitted and offered a little more support for the girls, but it must have gotten a little wet from the drinks we'd sipped at earlier when we lost gravity. My pants are still dry, and I quickly slip them on just as Edwaird is pulling his own pants into place.

We are both fully dressed, and Edwaird grabs a bag from the floor, then makes his way over to me. He grabs my hand and waves his own over the door sensor, opening it, and we begin to walk toward the control room. To my surprise, we don't go into the control room, instead we go to the huge docking room where we'd landed when I first arrived...who knows how long ago.

All of the others are there, and they notice us right away. The females all run over to me immediately, hugging me and murmuring things too quickly for me to hear and too slurred to understand anyway. Edwaird reluctantly lets go of my hand and walks over toward the men.

It's odd. I think about how protective I had been with Edwaird earlier when Ah-lisss was around and how I almost wanted to rip her throat out, but now, I feel nothing like that. I feel no threats at all, only the weird tether I feel between Edwaird and I. Every time he moves further away from me, it's like I feel like I need to move too, to never be too far away from him. I hope that the feeling will eventually subside because I get a little panicky when he steps onto a small pod and out of my sight.

The females seem to notice my anxiety and quickly pull me to the pod and allow me to climb in first. This pod is a little larger than the one I rode in when they found me and we all have a seat in the oval compartment. Emmeet is at the front, flying the pod with Roe-salie at his side. The rest of the group talks but my attention is focused on my feet, or should I say what is below my feet.

The bottom of the compartment that we are in is made of clear glass or something like it and as Emmeett maneuvers the pod out of the larger ship, I can see the planet below us as we lift up into the air. We don't fly all that high, but it is high enough for me to be able to see a small part of the city before we pull away from it. I don't understand why we aren't going to their home, but my concentration is pulled from that as I see people walking around down below us. There are small hut-like treehouses that are settled in trees and on stilts alongside a small river.

I point to them and ask Edwaird who they are. "Do they live in the wilderness? Who are they?"

"No-maads. They rebuke ssssociety and the direction of the Queen. They musssst not enter the ccccity. Their failure to bow to the Queen affordsssss them immediate ending," Edwaird explains to me.

I swallow thickly, wondering how I will be received in all of this and if I will be soon receiving my immediate ending. Anxiety begins to build in me once again, and Edwaird quickly wraps his arm around me, pulling me closer to him. Esssssme watches us and gives me a small "smile" when she notices that I have seen her. I give her a weak, pathetic smile in return, then look back to the foreign planet beneath me.

After maybe fifteen minutes, the pod begins to descend. Something slides over the glass beneath our feet, blocking the view below. We land gently, and everyone immediately stands up, beginning to grab the various items they've brought. After we are all settled, Essssme and Carlissss make the move to leave the ship first. Essssme gives me one more brief glance then exits. I see that Roe-salie and Emmeet exit next, then Jassspeer steps out. Ah-lissss turns to me and quickly gives me a hug, then Edwaird. They share a meaningful look that I don't understand, but feel this weird emotion, like resolve, inside of me. I don't have any idea why, but then remember my new bond with Edwaird.

What is he "resolved" about? And Ah-lissss?

Ah-lissss quickly turns away, bouncing out of the ship and toward her mate. Edwaird turns to me, pulling me close, and I look up at him. He looks nervous, scared, but also content. I know he is happy to have me here, I can feel it in my body and in this weird link we have, but I really want to know why he is nervous and scared.

He grazes the place on my chest where my freckles are again, and I will need to determine why he is so fascinated with that. Yes, he has a similar patch, but the are just freckles. Edwaird leans in and gives me a gentle kiss, then turns and pulls us out through the hatch.

He laughs at the surprise on my face from what I see before us.

_Not_ what I was expecting.


	7. Is This Upstate New York?

In The Deepest Space

Chapter 7: Is This Upstate New York?

Glossary:

**"Neeetroghen issss of the nenty-sssseeeexth and a furrth proghenta" - Nitrogen is of the ninety-sixth and a fourth percentile (normal air for Earth is 78.08% Nitrogen)**

"There issss both ohgohn and cahrdoxxeeen in tracccce amountsss. Ox-sigeeen isss of the twainten-sech and a sssseeeexth proghenta" - There is both argon and carbon dioxide in trace amounts. Oxygen is of the twenty-second and a sixth percentile. (normal air for Earth is .93% argon, .038% carbon dioxide and 20.95% oxygen.{according to a few different sources, these numbers vary slightly depending on what source you look at.})

**Ssssoooolpicccia – (Sool-piece-eee-ah) The queen of Sssisla**

Bella's POV~

This house doesn't seem like it belongs here, and yet, it totally fits. It's the kind of house you would think you'd see in some upstate New York richy rich neighborhood, not on some alien planet. I don't know what I should expect, but this isn't it.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I _do_ know what I'd been expecting, and my mind's eye pictured it looking something like oh, I don't know, kidney bean buildings? This house is three stories of some kind of large stone, but everywhere I look, the stones are covered by some type of climbing plant life. The house is absolutely amazing, and if I let myself admit it, maybe slightly creepy.

"Where are we?" I ask Edwaird, leaning in closer to his side.

"Thissss isssss our layover domiccccile. Our other domiccccile issss in the cccity, but we are not yet ready to take you into the cccity. We musssst make preparationsssss." During the last part he seems to grit his teeth a little which, to be honest, worries me.

Before I can panic about it too much, Edwaird pulls me forward toward the entrance of their home. As we step into the entryway, I gasp, twirling around and taking everything in. The house is simply exquisite, with all types of artifacts that decorate the home. There is an amazing spiral staircase that demands your attention. Call me ridiculous, but I can't wait for the opportunity to climb it.

Essssme enters the room and comes over toward Edwaird and me. She and Edwaird seem to communicate something silently, then Edwaird groans and grabs onto my hand. Essssme turns toward me.

"Bell-a. It issss required that you meet the Queen, Ssssooooolpicccia. We mussst report to her ssshortly after the arrival of her proclamation. I am ssssure that it will arrive quite ssssoon and after our awakening, we may be required to travel to Sssssisla," Essssme explains as she holds onto one of my hands. She releases it and then tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, seeming so human. Her fingers linger behind my ear for just a second, and she pulls her hand back.

"Edwaird, you musssst ssssshow Bell-a the resssst," she informs him, gives me a quick smile, then turns to go back toward where she entered just a few minutes prior.

"Come," Edwaird says as he pulls me toward the spiral staircase and the little girl in me internally squees a little. I've always loved these things for some reason.

We begin to crawl upward, and I pull on Edwaird's hand a little to keep him from moving too quickly up the stairs. I run my fingers over the beautiful workings of the strange metal, reveling in it's beauty. When I'd seen these kinds of staircases in magazines as a child, I'd always loved them, always daydreamed that someday, I'd have several of them in my home.

I sigh, and it must be out loud because Edwaird squeezes my hand. I look up at him and give him a nostalgic smile, then begin to climb the stairs again. When we are almost to the top, I begin to feel slightly woozy. I've never been afraid of heights, so I'm not sure why I'm feeling so out of it from the staircase. My legs quickly begin to go out from under me, but Edwaird slips his arm around my waist, catching me before I hit the floor.

"Bell-a? You are unwell?" Edwaird questions, looking quite worried.

I shake my head, no. "No. I feel fine. I just got lightheaded for some reason."

This makes me think about the air here. I can't believe I didn't think of it a long time ago, like before we even got off the ship, but the thought never even occurred. I never even bothered asking if I would be able to breathe on their planet, never worried that there would be no oxygen. I just put it completely out of my mind, which, as an astronaut, never happens. I decide that his must have something to do with it, because other than feeling a little hungry, I feel fine.

"Edwaird? What is the composition of your air here?" I ask, already trying to formulate the amount of oxygen I may or may not be taking in.

Without answering my question, Edwaird pulls us down a long hall and into a room that seems to be a library. Books line the walls from floor up to a very high ceiling around the entire room. The bookworm in me internally squees as Edwaird pulls me over to a wall next to a tall window with a bench. He scans several titles for a minute, pulls out a couple of books, then sits down on the padded bench. I sit down next to him as he hands me a book. It has a seaweed green cloth cover with little characters on the front, but I don't know what they say.

Edwaird pulls the book over to rest half on his leg and half on mine, then flips it open until we are about halfway through the book. There is a chart and several formulas, but again, I cannot read it. Edwaird points to a character and says, "Neeetroghen issss of the nenty-sssseeeexth and a furrth proghenta." He points to another character. "There issss both ohgohn and cahrdoxxeeen in tracccce amountsss. Ox-sigeeen isss of the twainten-sech and a sssseeeexth proghenta," he finishes, then looks over at me.

I point to the first symbol. "Nitrogen." I point to the other symbols and say, "Argon, Carbon Dioxide, and Oxygen." Edwaird smiles at me, happy that I understand what he has told me. I move my finger back over toward the oxygen symbol. "Your oxygen level is higher here than what I am used to. That is why I got lightheaded and almost fell."

Edwaird nods his head at me in understanding and closes the book, setting it aside. He turns us so that he cradles me between his legs. My back is against his chest and my head tucked into the side of his neck. We face the window, looking at the never-ending expanse of green that is the forest beyond there home. I revel in the peacefulness of it, trying to remain calm as I think about all that has happened to me so far and what more there is to come.

Edwaird moves my hair away from my neck and begins to finger the flainless area behind my ear. I don't know how he does it, but he still manages to make it feel so completely sensual, almost erotic. He traces the shell of my hear and hums in a very low tenor, sending shivers over my skin and creating heat in my tummy once again. I want him. I want my mate desperately.

Edwaird begins to lick and nibble at my ear, and he holds me in place so that I can't turn toward him to taste him. He tortures me with pleasure to my body, and I wriggle to get closer to him, to create the friction I need between our bodies. I whimper at the sensation of his fingers grazing the skin of my abdomen, and just as I turn to get out of his grip so I can straddle him, his name is called.

"Edwaird!"

_Fuck!_

It is Esssme calling for us from the floor below, and Edwaird and I simultaneously groan at the interruption of our fun. I stand up and grab his hand, pulling him up toward me, and we reluctantly walk from the room and back down to the lower floor. Hey, at least I get to use the kickass staircase again.

Esssme stands at the front door holding a piece paper with what I can only describe as a foreboding look on her face. She looks up as she hears us descending then walks to the foot of the staircase. "The declaration hasssss arrived from our Queen," she says, watching me the whole time. She offers Edwaird the piece of paper and walks off, leaving us alone once again.

I don't even bother looking at the paper. I know I won't be able to read what it says, so instead, I watch Edwaird's face, waiting for him to give something away in his expression. He doesn't; he remains stoic and neatly folds the letter back up after he has read it thoroughly.

Carlissss enters the room then, and he walks over to us. Edwaird hands him the letter, and Carlisss opens and reads it. "The nexxxxt?" he asks.

Edwaird nods his head, and Carlisss continues to read it. After a few moments, he folds the paper back up and returns it to Edwaird. They stand there, looking at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation. Edwaird reaches to scratch the back of his head and Carlisss sighs. He looks over at me and gives me a small smile, then walks from the room.

"What was that all about, and what does that say?" I ask Edwaird and he turns and walks back over to me. I don't like the look on his face, a look that conveys worry, yet resolve.

"Our Queen hassss been notified of your arrival to our planet, Bell-a. She requiressss you to attend her conccccciato," Edwaird says, and I can't help notice the worried tone that seeps out through his words.

"Your Queen wants me to come to her music concert? That doesn't seem so bad." At least there will be other people there, so I don't have to worry about being maimed in public. Then again, maybe I do. My stomach twists at the thought.

"When is this concert?" I ask him, raising my hand up to touch his cheek and the lobe of his ear.

He groans slightly, burrowing his face closer to my hand, and replies, "The twilight of the nexxxxt." His eyes slide shut as I trace his ear.

"The next? Are you referring to tomorrow? As in not today, but the next day?" I ask, hoping I get this right. The communication barrier is a bit annoying.

Edwaird opens his eyes and nods his head at me. I see desire in his eyes, and my stomach tightens a little. Just then we hear Esssme and Carlisss talking in the other room, and Edward and I groan simultaneously.

"Would you like to ssssee the rest of our home, Bell-a? There issssss ssssssomething you will want, but we musssst travel a ssssmall dissstance," Edwaird asks, already leading me back up the staircase.

I follow him back into his room, and he grabs a woolen textured wrap, slipping it over my shoulders. I wrap it tightly around my body, and the material sticks to itself, needing no clasp or pins. We quickly wander the rest of the house and come in contact with Emmeet momentarily, but Edwaird seems hurried, so we don't linger.

Within five minutes time, we are exiting the house through a rear door and head off toward a line of trees with a hillside hidden behind them. Edwaird walks quickly. My legs begin to grow tired, but I push on, keeping with his pace. Before long we break into the tree line, and he steers us to the right for a little while before we turn again. It doesn't take me long to lose track of which direction is which anymore. I begin to worry that Edwaird has gotten lost himself until we come to the base of a hill.

The hill looks like any ordinary hill, similar to hills you see on Earth, at least, until he waves his hand over an invisible sensor and a door panel slides open. Edwaird grabs my hand and quickly pulls us through; the door quickly slides shut behind us.

I gasp because there are simply no words. They have burrowed out the inside of a hill to leave a cavernous room, housing all different types of equipment. "What is this, Edwaird?"

"Thissss mussst not ever be known to a sssoul outssside of our clan, Bell-a. Thissss isss our protective hidden placcce. It issss not recognizzzable by satellitessss, which enablessss usss to ssstay hidden from the Queen, if necesssary. That time may be coming very sssoon." Edwaird walks further in, turning on lights and screens as well. Some of the equipment comes to life as he pulls me to sit in a chair along the far wall in front of several large screens.

"I am able to feel you, without touch, Bell-a. What you feel, I too, feel it. We may be different, but we are not sssso different. Thingsssss within you are beginning to recognizzze our mating. You are melancholy, my Bell-a. Why issss thisss?" Edwaird raises his hand up to my face, tracing my lips with his long finger, then leaves feather touches along my cheek bone as he trails his finger toward my ears. He leaves his fingers to rest behind my ears and instead of feeling totally erotic this time, it feels more comforting than anything.

Edwaird pushes the chair that I'm sitting in over to another wall, and I sit in front of more screens. Also in front of me is what looks like some kind of a musician's sound board. He flicks on several switches, and I look up at the screens, watching them flicker on. Several star maps pop up on the screen, and I stand up to get a closer look at them. I stare at them, not really recognizing any of them, but needing a moment to think. Edwaird is right. I'm feeling incredibly sad right now, and more than being afraid for my life, I'm missing Charlie. I'm also worrying that he may be dead, since I have no idea as to how much time has passed.

Edwaird grabs my hand and pulls me down to his lap, the tears stream down my cheeks as he rubs soothing circles on my back. "I miss Charlie, my dad. I'm worried about how old he is now or that he might be dead. I don't know how long it took for me to get here. Your time is different than mine, Edwaird," I explain as the tears come out faster.

Edwaird pulls my head down to his chest, cradling me and I can feel my sadness slowly dissipate. In my head, I can hear Edwaird telling me that he will always take care of me, that he loves me, that his forever is my forever and he will do anything to make sure I am happy. I believe him.

"How do you do that? I can hear you in my head. I know I can."

"You were able to hear my mind mussssingsss?" He quickly questions, pulling my face up so he can see my eyes. I nod my head yes, and he smiles largely at me. "Bell-a. Thou are mine mate. Declare it true before thine clan?"

His face has gone totally serious, and I replay the words in my head, exactly as he has spoken them over and over again. I am his mate, declare it before his family. He wants me to formally announce that I will forever be his, and it almost sounds like an engagement announcement.

I will never return home. I will be here on this planet for the rest of my life...however long that may be. Nothing could make me happier than to spend it with him and his family. The mere thought of being away from Edwaird makes my chest hurt, and I know that nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life with him.

I nod my head, and the tears begin to fall again. "Yes. We will announce it to your family." Edwaird quickly stands us up and lifts me with him, twirling me around. I feel like I'm in a storybook or a cheesy romance flick, but I couldn't be happier. I think about Charlie and feel sad that he is not here for this, but I have to accept that he cannot be.

We both end up laughing, and the baritone of Edwaird's laugh makes me tingle inside a little bit. I reach up on my tiptoes and kiss him on his sexy, luscious lips. He opens his mouth to me. Our tongues touch, dance, and I devour the taste of him. He slips his tongue inside of my mouth, making me his, and I push my mouth against his even harder. We kiss like it is our last moment until we are both breathless. I reluctantly pull away and he growls a little, making me grow wet. I huff in annoyance that we can't go further right now, making Edwaird chuckle at me as he pulls me over to one of the walls.

There are thin paper maps that line the walls, and I look over all of them to see if there is anything that I can recognize. I am both amazed and a little frustrated. Amazed at how much of space they have mapped out, realizing how immense it really is. I mean, I thought I had some idea of how big it is, but now that I see these maps, I realize that NASA has no clue. What I'm frustrated about is that as I reach each different map, I see nothing that I recognize. That is, at least until I come to the second to last map, where I finally see several planets that I recognize.

The second to last map has three planets. The names are different, but there are satellite images of them, and I recognize them as Neptune, then Uranus, then Saturn. I quickly move to the last map which is unfinished. There is an image of Jupiter, but it ends there. I point to the map and ask, "You haven't finished this one yet. You don't have Mars up yet, which is the next planet and the planet on which you found and saved me."

Edwaird quickly runs to the switchboard looking desk and brings up an image of Mars. The image is immediately transposed to the map that I'm looking at and I begin to get excited. Edwaird walks back over to me, holding a pen of some sort. He writes something under the planet that I cannot read, then hands the pen over to me. "Marrrrssss," he says, then nods at the map. I lift my hand up and write 'Mars' under his script, then hand the pen back to him.

"My planet is the next one, Edwaird. Earth. Show me where we are now?" I look at him and see his eyes darken a little. He walks away from me and over toward the beginning of the map wall, stopping at the third map. He points to his home planet, and says, "Ssssisla."

I count the maps in between. There are seven maps between the one that has Ssssila on it and there are between three and five planets on each map. I try to swallow down the lump in my throat and fathom what this means. We could literally be hundreds of light years away from Earth. I mean, it is possible, but that still doesn't mean that it took us very long to get here. There ship traveled very fast, and like Esssme said, we used black holes.

My mind reels for a few moments, and I suddenly think about the advanced technology that sits in this room. It is way more advanced than the technology on Earth is, and I wonder if he can zoom in on places he has never seen, especially since I know the coordinates of Mars...and Earth. I quickly run over to the desk we had just been sitting at and look for a piece of paper or something to write on. Edwaird anticipates my needs, running over to grab a sheet of brownish looking paper and sets in front of me. My hand begins to fly across the paper as I write down the numbers Edwaird can use to search for Earth. As he sees all of the numbers I'm writing, he stops me, taking the pen and paper from my hand.

Edwaird quickly sits down in the chair beside me and flips on several more switches on the panel. He moves bars and pushes buttons, turns knobs, then pushes more buttons. I watch the screen as he pulls up the images for Jupiter. "Keep going," I whisper, afraid that if I speak too loudly this won't work.

Edwaird keeps working, concentrating as he watches the screen while at the same time he moves all of the switches around. He does this for a bit and begins to grow frustrated. We are both ready to give up when I see something in the very corner of the screen. "Wait!" I shout, my arms waving over toward the left of the screen. "Go back! There was something there!"

Edwaird slowly pulls us back to the left and after a little bit of coercing on the board, Edward settles on Mars. I jump up and down, exclaiming, "Yes! That's Mars! That's where you found me! Earth! Earth is not far, only about 55 million miles."

Edward looks at me quizzically and I realize he won't understand my numbers, but I don't care. We have to keep looking, we are so close. As I do my happy dance, Edwaird continues to search. But this time, he doesn't have to search as long. Within only a few minutes, the image of Earth pops up on the screen, and the sight is enough to bring tears to my eyes. I've always thought of my planet as beautiful, but nothing can really describe its beauty to me right now.

I sit down in the chair once more, staring at the screen and feeling a rollercoaster of emotions within me. Edwaird grabs onto my hand and rubs circles by my thumb. "Can you look at the planet from different angles? Like circle it?" I make a circling motion in the air with my finger.

Edwaird pulls his hand from mine and slowly moves a lever on the panel. "Stop!" I shout once again, and he immediately pulls his hand away. There, we sit staring at Earth and the beautiful image of North America, as it looks like from outer space. I stare in wonder at the screen, knowing now that I have never in my career appreciated the beauty of my planet as much as I do now.

I feel a solitary tear slide down my cheek, yet I can't exactly say that I feel sad. Besides the fact that I miss Charlie, I can't really say that I will miss Earth. Yes, it is my home...of course, but this is my new home. If none of this had never happened, I never would have found Edwaird, and I know deep within me, that I can never again live without Edwaird. To say that I love him has become a pitiful understatement, but really, to put words to how I feel about him would do it no justice. No justice at all.

I look over at Edwaird who is staring intently at me, giving him a soft smile...with teeth, and he smiles back at me. He reaches over to me with one of his hands, and as he does so, he bumps a button. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the screen change and look up, gasping loudly at what I see. I look down at his hand and see where he placed it, then to his face and see him looking at me in question.

"You've zoomed in on actual coordinates of my home country. I point to the screen. That's Florida, where I launch from. Do you know how you did that?" I say and ask at a million miles an hour. This is beyond exciting, the fact that he can get this close to see the actual latitude and longitude of my planet.

Before he touches the board again, he takes a deep breath, then moves his hand back over to the button he had grazed only moments before. He moves it a fraction of a hair and it zooms in to Florida a little bit more, and I jump out of my chair, squealing in excitement.

He moves to push it further at my excitement, but I stop him. "Wait. I need you to go in a different direction. You need to go far northwest."

"Deeerection? Norrthwessssst?" he questions, looking thoroughly confused. We are going to have to figure out how to move side to side and up and down.

"Okay. When you are searching for planets or anything else, how do you go from side to side? Or up and down?" As I ask my questions, I motion with my hand from side to side and up and down to help explain myself.

Edwaird nods and points at a small joystick on the panel. He moves it slightly to the left and the screen pans to the east a little, landing on Louisiana. I sit back down in my chair once more, scooting closer to Edward, and he nods at me to work the joystick. My inner thirteen year old boy smirks, but I quickly regain my composure, placing my hand on the joystick where Edwaird's hand had just been. He places his hand gently over mine, showing me how to use it, but I'm pretty sure I've got it. I move slowly, over several states until I finally reach what is Southern California. From there, I begin to move North until I come to rest over Washington State.

I stop our hands and point up at the screen. "There. That is where I come from. Can we look in any further? Closer?"

Edwaird nods his head and quickly moves over to what I've dubbed as the "zoom" button. He pushes it a couple of times, and as he does, I move the joystick to the northwest, getting closer to my hometown. I recognize Port Angeles and quickly tell him, "Stop." We are close now.

Edwaird moves back over to me, and I slowly move us closer to Forks,Washington. I shift the lever several more times, and there we are, hovering over my hometown, where I was born and where my father, hopefully, still resides. I feel tears sting my eyes once again but tilt my head back slightly to keep them from slipping over the edge. It's enough, but at the same time, it isn't.

"Can we get closer?" It comes out as a whisper, but Edwaird hears me. He moves down to the far end of the board this time, but instead of looking to see what he is doing, I keep my eyes on the screen. I can't look away.

Then I am closer.

Then closer.

And there I am, looking down at the Forks Library. "Move this way," I tell Edwaird, motioning with my finger in the northwest direction. He says nothing, only moves me ever so slowly, toward the direction of my childhood home.

And I can see the tree outside of my old bedroom window. I know that the frame of the satellite rests on the entire house and driveway, but I pay attention to only my bedroom because if I'm honest, I'm deathly afraid to look at the driveway, afraid of what I will or will not see there.

I look toward the sky and notice that it must be moving on toward evening and find peace in the red and orange colors of the sky. On the horizon, I can see that a storm front is on its way in, and I almost laugh out loud at that. I take a deep breath, swallow several times, and finally, finally, look toward the driveway.

And there it is, the police cruiser; sitting beside it is my old red pickup truck that quit running my first year of grad school. I can't believe he still has that piece of shit.

A light flips on inside the house, on the kitchen side. "Edwaird, can we get over to there?" I ask, pointing to where the light is coming from. He swivels our viewing position and within seconds, there he is. Charlie. Dad. The best person I've ever known, who would cut off his left arm (not his right, because that's his shooting arm) for anyone who needed it.

A sob comes out of me unexpectedly, and Edwaird is at my side in an instant, stroking my neck and behind my ear. I touch the screen in front of me, touch my father's face as he stands at the kitchen sink washing off his dinner plate. I can't get that great of a view of him to see if he looks a great deal older, but he is still policing, so that has to mean something. Relief floods through me, and my tears finally overpower the dam of my lower eyelids. I turn my head to Edwaird's chest, crying my sorrow and my happiness into his chest.

I cry for a while, I don't know how long, but long enough that I run out of tears. When I look up at the screen again, my old home has gone dark. I look up at Edwaird then, and he is staring at me with an intensity that is completely new. My chest feels as though it could burst from the intensity of the love that I feel emanating from him, and I reach up on my tiptoes and brush my lips against his.

Edwaird kisses me softly, slowly, knowing exactly what I need. He pulls me closer to him, and after several minutes, our kisses get harder, more heated. My eyes begin to go a little fuzzy, so I close them, thinking that it is just from the intensity of his kiss, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing that has happened.

Edwaird pulls away, panting, and I open my eyes to look in his, but I can't see.

I see black, then there is nothing.


	8. Your Ovum does WHAT?

In The Deepest Space

Chapter 8 – Your Ovum Does WHAT?

Glossary:

**Deitssska - their deity**

Bella's POV ~

When I wake, Edwaird is sleeping soundly on the bed beside me. The room is dark, and I look around, squinting to see if I can determine if we are still in that hill or back at the house, and what time of day, night, or early morning it is. I gently move off of the bed so that I don't wake Edwaird and step over to a tall window. I look out over two moons that are beginning to lower in the sky, telling me that we may be getting onto morning.

"How issssss your health, Bell-a?" I jump, unaware that anyone is in the room as Esssme walks up to stand beside me. I place my hand over my heart where it thumps out of control.

"Oh. Hello, Esssme. My health is fine. What happened?" I question, unable to remember anything but the computer screen focusing on Charlie in that hill bunker.

"You heet a black ssssspell, child. You have undergone sssssso much. You musssst come to find nourissssshment?" Esssme says, walking over toward the door but grabbing onto my hand before she is very far from me.

I look over my shoulder to see that Edwaird is still sound asleep on the bed, and my tummy growls. "Yeah, I haven't eaten in quite some time. I've always been like that, though. Charlie, my dad, used to joke that I had a second stomach where I stored food. He said I could hibernate if I wanted to." I chuckle, thinking of my dad once again. A smile creeps up on my face, and I'm so happy, so relieved, that I got to see Charlie. Part of the memory feels fuzzy, like a dream, but I know that it happened. I remember how my heart felt, so full with love yet housing a twinge of pain and making me feel as though I would burst.

"So. I blacked out then? I guess that could be expected, considering everything that has happened."

Esssme pulls me down a hall, and we descend a different staircase, entering into what appears to be the kitchen. In the light of the kitchen, she nods her head. "Yesss, child. Your black sssspell is mosssst understood. Your ssshell," she gestures at my body, "and your computer," she points to my head, "have been through a great ccchange. Ssssit here."

She moves me over to sit in a large chair over by a hearth where a huge fire blazes. This kitchen is like something out of Wuthering Heights, or some other book from that era. Everything about this house looks like it was all "Beam Me Up, Scotty" back in the 1800's and teleported here. But really, the house is perfect. I know that when we get into the city, it is going to be a severe shock to my system. I shudder at the potential of all of the kidney bean shaped furniture and buildings there could be.

Esssme drapes a blanket over my lap then moves over to the kitchen area and begins pulling things from a shelf and from what appears to be some type of refrigeration unit. I look around, studying the kitchen. It is very large and has three doors that allow entrance and exit. There is a contraption that hangs from the ceiling made of some iron-looking material but I'm not sure what it is used for. Along the far wall, there is another smaller fire where a large kettle rests over the flame. Essssme chops something up and throws the pieces into the pot. The walls are a kind of natural brown color, not from paint, but with whatever was used to construct the home, like the walls were left in their bare, natural form.

I feel slightly chilled, so I turn back to the fire, where I see a book out of the corner of my eye. I pick it up and begin flipping through the pages, noticing it must be like some sort of coffee table book as there are mostly pictures in it. I chuckle to myself, realizing they even have the dreaded coffee table book in outer space. The photos are slightly grainy and consist of landmarks as well as photos of their moons and maybe a few other smaller, uninhabited plantest surrounding this one. I get lost in the pictures and don't notice when Essssme has brought a bowl over and placed it down on the table in front of me.

Esssme walks back over to me and takes the book out of my hand, setting it on the table beside the chair. "Huhn, huhn. Bell-a, you mussssst," she says, pointing at the bowl of food.

"Sorry, I got caught up in the book." I smile at her and pick up the steaming bowl. It smells...well it smells fucking divine, and I dip in the spoon-like utensil, drawing some of the broth up to my lips. I smell it first, then taste it. It's fucking good. I could drink just the broth and feel satisfied, but I don't. I dip the spoon in further and find that there are some kinds of what look like are root vegetables, as well as some cooked greens. I sample three different root vegetables, then the greens and finally find the source of the salty flavor. There is a heavier meat toward the bottom of the bowl. I don't question whether it could be Sssoom, just put it in my mouth. The texture is not what I expect at all. I was expecting it to at least be a little chewy, like meat usually is, but instead, this meat was kind of flaky, like fish.

No matter, it all tastes divine, and within minutes, I've polished the bowl off and can't help the small burb that escapes me. From the doorway, I hear a deep baritone say, "HOOGP." I leap out of the chair to see Emmeet standing in the doorway, smiling from ear to ear.

"Burp," I reply, smiling back at him.

"Berrp," he interprets, and I nod, smiling.

I sit back down, and Esssme is back at my side, collecting my bowl, then setting another small plate in front of me. It holds several very colorful foods, colors that food just shouldn't come in. I've seen some of these colors in the bad clothing era that was the early '90s when it was hip to wear florescent colors. Some of the food is dotted with tiny black seeds; it looks like it could be fruit. I decide to give it a chance, considering I was nervous about the stew, and that did not disappoint at all.

I pick up one of the less vibrantly colored pieces of food and bite into it. It is green in color, seafoam green, and has a pungent, salty flavor with a hint of sweetness. I finish it and try another, this one is more blood red colored. It tastes zesty, kind of peppery, not what I was expecting at all. I don't like that one, but I finish it nonetheless. I eat as much as I can, and overall, everything was pretty fucking good. I feel full, and if I'm honest, a bit sleepy once again.

I stand up, patting Emmeet on the shoulder where he sits across from me and walk over to the small fire place where Essssme stands, coaxing the coals and logs there. "Thank you for the food. It was delicious."

Esssme turns toward me, and I don't know what comes over me, but all of a sudden, I want to hug her to me fiercely. So I do, because she feels like the mother I really need right now. I wrap my arms tightly around her neck, crushing her to me, then rest my head on her shoulder. She lets out a little "Oof" but wraps her arms around my back and pats my shoulder with one of them. We stand like that for a few moments until I finally back away from her. She has a wry smile on her face, and I smile back, then fly up the staircase that we descended earlier.

I look out the window in Edwaird's room and notice that the sun is beginning to rise. I quickly crawl up the bed and lay down beside Edwaird. He stirs a little then pulls me to him, nuzzling into my neck. The heat of it peppers my skin with goose bumps, and I feel a stirring of need within me. Edwairds left hand comes up to my neck and begins to trace my jaw, dragging lightly across it then up to my face. He traces my lips with his finger, then the bridge of my nose, my cheekbones, my brow bones, then the lines in my forehead. He moves his fingers over to the side of my head, lightly tracing my ears, further stirring my need.

I let out a little whimper, and he pulls me closer to him, turning me so that my back is to his chest. I can feel him move behind me a little, then I feel his lips on the skin of my neck. His lips softly caress my skin, nibbling, licking, tasting me. I squirm under his hold, then press my ass into his groin. He moves to my ear and begins to lick and nibble there, as his hand sneaks up the front of my shirt.

His fingers ghost along my ribcage, leaving behind a trail of more goosebumps, and a shuddery breath comes out of me. My need grows even stronger for him, and he whispers in my ear, "Bell-a, thine mate."

The words rip through me, creating heat in every single cell of my body, and I quickly turn over to face him, smashing my mouth to his and making his air, mine. Our tongues mingle, taste, nip and even in the morning, he tastes good. I want more of him, and before he has time to notice what I'm doing, I throw my leg over him, lifting myself up to straddle him. I grind down on him ever so slightly, and he lets out a low grown, then pulls me back down closer to him. I feel his cock grow rigid in seconds beneath me, and I kiss a trail down his neck.

I sit up a little and grab the hem of his shirt. He quickly sits up so that I can pull it off of him, and he does the same with my shirt, before falling back to the bed. We do nothing but stare at each other for several moments until he finally reaches up and grasps my breast in one of his hands, lightly rubbing his thumb over my hard nipple. I throw my head back a little and grind down onto him even more. He lifts his hips up a little, meeting my friction with his own, and right now, I really don't want fucking foreplay. I need him in me, like I've never needed anything before.

"I need you, Edwaird," I say, and it comes out pleading. I don't fucking care right now. I awkwardly maneuver myself on the bed, still hovering slightly over him, and pull my bottoms off. I help Edwaird out of his, and when we are both finally naked, I rest myself over his cock once again. The feel of his hard cock settled against my core that aches for him feels perfect. I rock against him a few times, creating friction and driving us both a little crazy. Edwaird grips my forearms then, and says, "Bell-a." It comes out slightly strangled and needy sounding. I smile at him.

I lean down close to him, lick his ear, then kiss his lips, and sit back up. I position him at my entrance and without anymore waiting or any kind of warning, I slam down on him. We both gasp out loud at the suddenness of it and I sit there for a moment, reveling in the feel of him inside of me once again.

Edwaird grabs onto my hips, and I grip his thighs as I begin to slowly move my hips, rocking against him and making sure that as we move, his cock slides slightly in and out of me. I can feel how wet I'm growing by the slickness of myself on Edwaird's cock, and it turns me on even more. Edwaird moves one of his hands from my hip and rubs at my clit.

"Uh. Yes, baby. That feels so good," I say, spurring him on further.

Edwaird growls, beginning to pump into me harder, and I know I won't last long. "Please, Edwaird. I'm going to come soon."

He sits up then and grabs me roughly by the waist, pulling me away then back to him hard, as he slams into me. I attack his mouth and feel the moisture of sweat on his upper lip, and I lick it. He continues to slam into me, and I cannot hold out any longer. My head falls backward as my release washes over me. I moan, and whimper, "Edwaird. Oh my Edwaird."

He holds onto me, and his mouth finds my nipple, sucking on it and he pumps several more times into me until he erupts with a growl. He moves slowly in me a few more times, spilling the rest of himself into me, then nuzzles his face into my neck once again.

"That issss the mossst pleasssant way to awaken on the sunrisssse," we whispers in a throaty voice against the skin of my neck. I clench my inner walls around him once more at his words, and he hisses at me. I tip my head back up and look in his eyes, seeing so much emotion in them. I smile at him and lower my mouth to his, giving him a small, yet emotional kiss that I hope conveys everything I am feeling right now.

I reluctantly roll off of him to lay in the bed beside him. There is movement outside of our room, and I hear murmuring. Edwaird chuckles lightly and sits up, scratching his head. "We mussst prepare oursssselvesss, Bell-a."

I swallow down the lump that forms in my throat and push myself up off of the bed. Edwaird stands as well and points to a far door as he pulls on a pair of what I can only say closely resemble sweat pants, only a little stiffer. I walk toward the door and step inside, as he walks toward the door that leaves the bedroom. Inside the door I enter, is the en suite, and I realize that this house does not have sensors like the ship does. This house has a deep basin tub that is a perfect circle shape and stands almost as high as my waist. I look around, looking for a way to get inside of it, then see a step stool. I climb up onto it and step through the heavy curtain, where there is not only a bath, but a shower head as well with normal handle nozzles. I smile and lift both handles, turning the water on.

After my shower, I see that Edwaird has gotten clothes for me from one of the other females. They look similar to the lounge clothes he put on earlier, and I quickly slip them on, then use Edwaird's bristly hairbrush and pull the tangles out of my hair. When I emerge from the bathroom, Edwaird is not there, but Ah-lisss is, sitting on a chair and reading something. There is a crease in her brow, and I wonder what has put it there.

When she hears me step out of the bathroom, she looks up and smiles, then stands, walking over to me. The furrow is gone, and she seems jubilant once again. She grabs my hand and begins to pull me toward the door.

"Where are you taking me, Ah-lisss?" I ask, laughing slightly at her enthusiasm. "And where is Edwaird?"

"You mussssst be prepared to meet our Queen, Bell-a. Ssssooolpicccia requiressss that you be mossst ressspectable. Edwaird isssss making preparationssss with our matessss," Ah-lisss explains, pulling me behind her down the hall.

We enter a room where the other two women in the family sit, speaking with their heads tilted together. Ah-lisss sits me down in a chair and immediately begins messing with my hair, and as I sit, I listen to them tell me what is expected of me.

Essssme's POV ~

"Our planet isssss a very old planet, Bell-a. Our kind live longer than mosssst of any other kind we retain knowledge of. Our Queen, Sssooolpicccia, has reined our planet for nearly sexxxtenth querassss, which nearly equalssss seeexxxth hoondraid yairssssss in your time meassssurement. Here on Ssssissla, it issss the mossst aged female in a clan that makesss decissssionsss, and all femalessss in a clan, cooridinate their functtion for the Queen," I inform, Bell-a, for sssshe will need to learn thisss, if sssshe will remain here permanently.

And ssshe will. Ah-lissss hassss ssseen it, although there are ssssome holessss that remain unknown.

"You are required to go before Queen Sssoolpicccia prior to the conccciato upon our ssssun'sss ssssetting thissss eve. It issss not allowed to go before the Queen in plain dresssss, therefore, we all musssst look appropriate asss the Queen deemssss it."

"Ah-lisssss and Roe-salie will prepare your crown at thisss moment, however, we will not dressss in our appropriate gownssss until we reach our other home, in the cccity. We do not retain formal garb here at thisss home for there isss no ussse for it. We will ssssoon prepare to travel the ssssmall disstance to the cccity, and Edwaird will sssshow you Ssssisla. It isss important that you give Queen Sssoolpicccia a proper impressssion of your knowledge and admiration for Sssisla."

Bell-a nodsss her head asss Ah-lisss preparess her hair. Roe-salie beginsss to prepare her face to resssemble the proper image to meet the Queen.

"I mussst make my leave, to alssso prepare myssself. Emmeet will announccce our departure sssoon," I warn the females, then exit to my own chamber to prepare.

Bella's POV ~

After Ah-lisss has seemingly pulled every single hair from my head, curled it, pinned it, teased it, and Roe-salie has plucked, waxed, scraped and painted on my "Queen worthy" face, I am finally deemed appropriate to see their Queen. At least, my hair and face are appropriate. I have yet to find out what they will make me wear, but will have to wait to we get to their home in the city to find out.

I leave the room while Ah-lisss and Roe-salie begin preparing themselves and go in search of Edwaird. He is not in his room, so I wander the house, finally finding him in the kitchen, sitting next to Jassspeer and nibbling on some type of bread.

He doesn't initially notice me, but Jassspeer makes a little noise, causing Edwaird to turn around in his chair and stare at me, taking me in. His eyes darken ever so slightly, and I'm glad that Jassspeer is in the room with us, because if he weren't, Edwaird would quickly ruin all the work the girls had just done on me.

I offer Jassspeer a small smile and move over toward Edwaird, resting my hand on his shoulder but making no move to sit down. If they are having a private conversation, I do not want to intrude.

From one of the front rooms, maybe the entryway of the house, I hear Emmeet bellow, "The ssship issss prepared. We mussst go!"

His voice cracks several times as he speaks, sounding like he is a prepubescent boy. It must be the hormones...or something. Jassspeer and Edwaird stand up, and Edwaird grabs onto my hand. He leans in and places a sweet, chaste kiss on my cheek, pulling me after him toward the front of the house. Edwaird's sweet kiss makes me a little nervous, as normally, his kisses are filled with passion. He seemed distracted with that kiss just now and I wonder how nervous he is about my introduction to the queen. Everyone is here but Ah-lisss, who, moments later, comes flying down the spiral staircase, carrying several bags. I hear Esssme chuckle lightly behind me.

Once we are all loaded up on the pod, Emmeet lifts off, and we are soon on our way. The window below my feet is uncovered so that I can again watch as we fly over forest, the river, and the nomads once again. This world is so beautiful, and seeing such beauty makes me wonder about all of the questions that have been plaguing me. Mostly one.

"Esssme? May I ask you a question?" I ask, then quickly take a peek at Edwaird. He smiles at me, and I look back at Esssme.

"Of courssse, child. You may."

I take a deep breath and try, once more, to get an answer to the question I'd asked before we ever got to Ssisla.

"Before we left the main ship, I had asked about the mating and carrying of children for your kind, but everything was so crazy then. I'd still really like to know how that works. Please?" I ask, putting a little bit of a pleading tone into the last part.

Esssme looks at Carlisss, then back to me and smiles. "Yesss, I believe that it will be of importanccce for you to know. Now that you and Edwaird are a mated pair, it will be important for usss to undersssstand how this will affect you."

Esssme takes a deep breath, and I lean into Edwaird's side, ready to finally hear this.

"When our kind matessss, we build a relationssship that will remain sssstrong until we both exxxpire. There are ritualss in which we practiccce when preparing to reproduccce, and all mussst be completed before we begin the quessst to have a child. I believe that you are not exactly interesssted in thessse ritualsss ssso much assss why it issss a male that carriesss the child, inssstead of the female, which mussst be the ssscenario for where you come from."

I nod quickly, urging Esssme to continue.

Esssme clears her throat quietly, then her face turns a bit red as she looks to Carlisss, who smiles at her and chuckles.

"When the male and female come together for intercourssse, it isss at the height of their mating that the processss beginssss. The female body holdssss the ovum, but releassesss at her climax, traveling through her body and to the opening in which ssshe issss connected to her male mate. Of courssse, we know what the male'sss partssss look like, and they have an ovirecccceptor, that drawsss the egg from the female'ssss body, and into their own. From there, the ovum travels through the male'sss body, via a tube, and isss deposssited into the gessstation sssack. The ovum is fertilizzzed there and will remain their until emergenccce."

As I take in all that Esssme is telling me, I think back to several biology classes I took when I was in college. I remember something like this, and I think it had something to do with seahorses. Actually, I'm sure it was seahorses. I mostly understand everything she is talking about, except one thing.

"So, after the baby is born, what happens to the pouch on the back?" I ask, pointing to my lower back to emphasize the meaning of my question.

"The gessstation sssack will dissolve once it isss no longer required. The baby will no longer need it, and the ssshell will no longer sssend any required nutrientssss to it. It will dry out, ssshed layersss, and then fall off."

I shudder at the mental image of that a little, thinking about Emmeet losing his little baby fanny pack. I'll be sad when that happens, because I've never seen him without it. The fanny pack kind of makes him... _him_.

"Wow. That's incredible. There is a sea creature on my planet that has a very similar reproduction process, but they are very very small and cannot survive out of water," I offer, trying to say thank you for finally explaining all this to me.

We sit in silence for a while, and I begin to watch what passes us under our feet again. The trip to the city seems to be taking longer than it did when we were traveling to the country home. Just as I think this, the small pod shudders with some force. I grip tightly onto Edwaird's hand, and he leans down to my ear, whispering, "Sssecure port." He then sits back up and begins a conversation with Carlisss.

We stay here for a while, and while everyone around me seems to be caught up in conversation, I can't help but wonder what their reproductive process means for Edwaird and me. I wonder if we can ever have children together.

I look up to see Esssme looking at me, and she offers me a soft smile. It seems like she could almost tell what I was thinking about.

The pod makes another small shudder, and we begin to move once again for just a few moments. We seem to circle a few times, then we finally move into a docking station that is completely enclosed. The view below is gone, and everyone begins to stand, grabbing the bags they have packed and brought with them. Edwaird stands up, pulling me up beside him and gently squeezing my hand.

"We have arrived to our permanent resssidencce, Bell-a," Edwaird explains as he pulls me to the door of the pod. This time, we are the first off, and as soon as I'm out of the pod, I look around and check out my surroundings.

And what do you fucking know? Kidney fucking beans.


	9. Hovercraft For Two, Please

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 9 - Hovercraft For Two, Please**

**Glossary:**

**gnyuck gnyuck - an admonishment like "now now"**  
**Sa-ahn - sorry**  
**Ahhh-ghizhhhhhhh - a calming sound, to sooth**  
**Zhah-wuut - hold still**  
**Shahn - NO!**  
**Mexxsssssh - Shit**  
**Di-dhyme - (Dee-hi-may)**

Bella's POV ~

The area that the pod is parked in is kind of like a garage, but with a glass wall that looks into the rest of the dwelling. Through the glass windows, I can see all types of furniture in varying colors. Bright colors adorn sofas, chairs, and tables, almost all of them kidney bean shaped. What the fuck is their fascination with kidney beans?

I shake my head, chuckling, as Edwaird nudges me gently with his arm. I smile at him and simply shake my head to let him know that nothing is wrong. The rest of the family files out of the pod as Edwaird leads us over to the glass window. He waves his hand over a sensor I don't even notice, and part of the glass wall slides up, allowing us entry into their home. I follow him in with the rest of the clan trailing me. Ah-lisss and Jassspeer say nothing, but immediately take off running down a hall. I can hear Ah-lissss giggling, and yeah, I know exactly what is going to go on with them.

Roe-salie stands to my left and fixes a curl on my head that has fallen out of one of the pins. The curl rests behind my ear, and I notice that she is quick to fix it, leaving the skin behind my ear exposed. With her quick fix, I suddenly realize that they want to showcase my difference, my alienness compared to them. On the ride here, I'd contemplated that maybe they had done my hair and make-up to resemble them. Now I realize, they want to make sure that the rest of their kind see that I am different, and that it's okay.

My tummy rolls in nervousness, but I'm not allowed to dwell on it for long because Emmeet, comes to stand in front of me. He lifts his right arm up in front of his face with his palm facing his body. He holds his arm at an angle, makes a fist and stares at me, waiting for me to do something. I look up at Edwaird, and he mimics Emmeet's gesture, then nods at me.

I follow both of their leads and put my arm up just as they have. Emmeet then leans in slightly, and moves his arm so that both of our arms touch on the outside make an "X" shape. He smiles then, nods at me, and drops his arm. Roe-salie grabs his hand, and they walk down the same hall that Ah-lisss and Jasssspeer just disappeared down. I'm totally confused by what all this means.

I turn to ask Edwaird what it's all about, but I hear Emmeet shout out to me, "BERRRP!" He chuckles, then they are out of sight.

"What was that about?" I ask, the confusion plain in my voice.

"Emmeet isss filled with happinessssss that you are of our clan. That we are mated. That issss hisss disssplay of accceptanccce," Edwaird explains as he grabs my hand, pulling me behind him down a different corridor of the house.

oOo

Edwaird pulls me through the remainder of the house quickly. It is fairly large, and like he has told me, much different than their first home. Where that house is all old stone and vines, this house is abstract cutouts in random walls, brightly painted rooms and light fixtures that weirdly resemble squid. Oh, and don't let me forget the fucking kidney bean furniture, no, that would be blasphemous.

Edwaird pulls me out a side door of the house, and we step outside into the late afternoon. The sun sits above the horizon, but it won't stay up for much longer. Esssme has advised Edwaird that I need to see and experience their life and culture as much as possible before this evening when I will meet their queen.

We walk down a small hill and towards the part of the city that seems to be bustling. After walking only a few hundred feet, Edwaird stops us at a little shop of some sort. There is a sign above the door that, of course, I can't read.

"Our pacccce issss too ssslow, we mussst travel with ssspeed, ssso you may sssee more, Bell-a," Edwaird explains, pulling me behind him and into the little shop. There is an elderly gentleman that stands behind a counter and wears gauzy strips of material around his head. As we walk in, he looks at Edwaird and smiles until he notices me.

The smile leaves his face, and he looks back to Edwaird, saying, "Eessssst truthhhh." The look on his face is one of total shock, and he turns around, grabbing something from the shelf behind him before coming around the counter to stand in front of Edwaird and me. He cocks his head to the side, and I realize he is looking for my flain - the holes that I don't have - and I self-consciously raise my hand up to cover my ear and neck.

"Gnyuck gnyuck," he admonishes me, for covering myself. I look up to Edwaird, and he is looking at the old man with a hint of panic written across his face. The old man takes Edwaird's hand and places something inside of it. Edwaird then reaches to grab something from some kind of pocket, but the old man holds up his hand, stopping Edwaird.

"Sssshow the female what there isss to sssee. Make her cherisssh it assss we do." With that, the old man walks around the counter again, but disappears through a small doorway with more of the same strips of cloth he had wrapped around his head, hanging from it.

I look up at Edwaird again, and he has an unreadable expression on his face. He changes it quickly as we emerge into the sun once again. He leads us to the side of the small building where there is a row of some type of hovercraft. He pushes something on the odd key that the old man gave him inside, and one of the craft hums to life. The color changes from a dull grey to a vibrant red as Edwaird walks over to it. I follow him, and he takes my hand, helping me sit down on it. It kind of looks like a motorcycle, but after Edwaird sits down and pushes another button, the craft rises off of the ground slightly, and we begin hovering. Another button, and suddenly, a glass-like shield encloses us on the hovercraft. Awesome. Now, no matter how fast we go, I don't have to worry about the wind ruining the work that Roe-salie and Ah-lissss did to my hair.

Edwaird flies us around on the hovercraft, and mostly, we look at all of the people just below us. There is a large market area that I am quite fascinated with, so we spend a lot of time looking there. Edwaird also wants to show me the rest of the city, the buildings, and of course, the Queen's domain. It is dark and covered with sharp angles. I get a weird feeling looking at it, maybe a bit foreboding, but I don't tell Edwaird about that. I don't want to worry him anymore than he already is.

We don't get off of the hovercraft for the entire city tour, which takes a while, until we come to the very end of it, as Edwaird says. We actually return the hovercraft to the shop we first stopped at near Edwaird's home, but then walk further down the hill. We venture to the west of town by what I would call a few "city blocks" until we come to another shop. While the shop that offered the hovercraft rental reminded me a bit of a gypsy's trading post, this is anything but. The doorway to this shop is decorated with tiny crystals of every color. The door is painted a green that pales in comparison to the color of Edwaird's eyes, but the entire facade itself is quite impressive.

Edwaird opens the door and gestures for me to go inside. I wait for him to follow me in, but he doesn't. He simply shakes his head at me and closes the door, leaving to fend for myself in this random store. I realize he must be doing this for some reason, but a little warning would have been nice.

I step further into the small shop and find that there are all kinds of jewelry that line the walls, locked in cabinets and sitting upon shelves behind the counter. There is no one standing in the front, and as I wait, I begin to look around. There are jewels of all sizes, types: some that hold precious looking stones, and some that are simply metal. There is one that catches my eye, that has two "S" looking characters on it. I know that that they are not "S's" because their alphabet isn't even close to resembling mine, but I still like it.

I hear a shuffling noise behind me and turn around quickly, seeing a thin woman with ancient looking eyes and black raven's hair that falls far past her waist. She walks behind the counter without looking at me, but when she finally does, her eyes grow wide.

She offers me a coy smile, saying, "You have come, ccchild. It isss the will. Make your choicccce." She nods her head, gesturing to her store.

"You want me to pick something?" I clarify.

Her smile grows wider, and she nods her head again.

"But I don't have any money. Payment?" I hold out my empty hands to show her I have nothing.

"Gnyuck gnyuck. Peeeek," she says, waving me off with her hand.

I look over my shoulder, behind me, where the piece with the double "S" caught my eye, but I make myself look around further. I continue wandering for a few minutes and hear her chuckle. I turn around to look at her, seeing her shoulders shake gently with laughter.

"Why do you laugh?" I ask.

"Loff?" she questions. Fuck these language barriers.

"Oh. Um. Huhn huhn," I explain.

Her eyes light with recognition of her language and what I'm asking, and she nods at me once more, then gestures to the piece that I keep eyeing.

"The pieccccce pickssss you, ccchild. You musssst not deny it."

I walk over and stand in front of the small case that holds the piece that I like so much. Without so much as pointing to the piece, the woman takes it out of the case, then walks back around the counter and motions for me to turn my back to her. She reaches around me, placing the pendant against my skin and hooking it at the back of my neck.

The second the pendant touches the skin at my throat, something inside of me changes. It's the oddest sensation, and my body flushes involuntarily. It feels like my blood grows warmer inside of my skin, and I'm hyper-aware of the way it thrums in my veins. I feel slightly panicky but am brought out of it by the touch of the woman's hand on my bare forearm.

"Caaalm, ccchild. Thisss isss your pieccce."

I nod at her and focus on her eyes. They seem to dart to my neck, eyeing the necklace, than back up to my face. I realize that she is nervous, although I have no idea why.

"Bell-a, you may retrieve Edwaird," she tells me, and I want to ask her how the hell she knows my name, but I keep my mouth shut and go to get Edwaird. As soon as I open the door, he eyes the piece that I'm wearing, and I swear, his eyes bulge a little too. I watch his Adam's apple bob as he swallows hard and goes over to stand in front of the woman.

"Sssshe chossse that pieccce of her own forccce, Di-dhyme?" Edwaird asks her, not me.

This woman, Di-dhyme, looks Edwaird directly in the eyes and nods, not breaking eye contact. There is silence for a few moments, and I worry that I've chosen a piece that is too expensive. I move to take it off but they both yell, "Shahn," at me. I drop my hands to my sides, feeling panic bubble up in my throat.

Edwaird grabs my hand then, pulling me toward the door, and Di-dhyme stares after me, looking sad and confused all of a sudden.

What the fuck is going on?

We walk through the door and back outside. It is full dark now. and we immediately start heading back toward home. Edwaird holds my hand securely, saying nothing, and I worry that I've angered him somehow with my jewelry choice. It's his fault for not going in with me in the first place. And Di-dhyme said that the piece would pick me, so I once again wonder. What the fuck?

Anger boils just under the surface of my skin, and I can feel the heat of my blood through my skin. I know it's ridiculous, but it feels like something about this necklace makes me more attuned to my body or something. Finally when we are about twenty feet from the door, I refuse to go into that house angry at Edwaird. I don't want to be angry, I'm already nervous enough as it is about meeting the queen tonight. I stop abruptly, and Edwaird does not notice, so my hand slips from his.

He stops and turns back to face me. "Bell-a?" he asks.

"Why are you angry with me? What have I done? I'm sorry if you don't like my choice, but you made me go in there alone. She said that the piece would pick me. How can that be my fault, Edwaird?" The words fall out of my mouth in hurt and anger at him for acting this way with me.

_How is he acting, Bella?_

Ugh. I don't know how he's acting. Hurried, worried, distant. It's driving me crazy, and I don't want him to be mad at me without a valid reason.

"Angerrr? I do not feel angerrr toward you, my Bell-a." In the light of the moons, I see his hand reach out like he is going to touch my necklace, but then his hand balls to a fist. Instead, he gently brushes his knuckles along my jaw. I lean my face in toward his palm.

"Come," he says, grabbing onto my hand once again and pulling me the rest of the way to the house. I guess that's all the explanation I'm getting for now.

oOo

Once again, it is all of us women getting ready for the concert, and my introduction to the Queen.  
Ah-lisss flits around her bedroom like a madwoman, pulling out several gowns that are absolutely remarkable. I worry that perhaps none of Ah-lissss' gowns will fit me; she is so much smaller than I am, but I find out that all three woman hold their gowns in this one closet because it has a high ceiling which allows the gowns to hang without wrinkling.

The other three already know what gowns they will be wearing, but in front of me, they have several laid out in varying colors. The only color that is not displayed is red.

"Why no red? I noticed that there are no red dresses. Do you not have red here?" I question. They all look at me in confusion, so I walk into the closet, searching for something in red. I retrieve a shirt from a compartment that is all red and bring it back out.

"Red."

"Sssihh. Raaaid," Ah-lissss says.

"Queen Ssssulpicccia will adorn a cloak of sssihh for the concccciato. No other may adorn it," Esssme explains to me.

I nod and walk over to the various dresses that have been set out for me. I point to the emerald green one, deciding the color will look good with my complexion.

After I strip out of my clothes and pull the dress on, I need help getting buttoned up in the back. Esssme moves my hair away from the buttons, then touches the clasp on my necklace.

"Edwaird hasss taken you to visssit Di-dhyme?" she asks. I nod my head yes in answer.

"What pieccce sssspoke to you, my ccchild?" Essssme finishes buttoning up my gown and spins me around so that she can see. Her eyes fall on my necklace, and she stares at it for an uncomfortable amount of time.

I clear my throat lightly to get her attention, and she quickly snaps her head up to look me in the eyes. She blinks several times, but continues looking at me like she's studying me or seeing me in an entirely different light. Then, just like that, she snaps out of it and flits off to finish getting ready.

I walk back over to the other women and notice Ah-lissss and Roe-salie quickly eye my necklace. However, their eyes seem to stay away from it altogether after that.

_Seriously, did I pick a necklace that used to belong to a dead girl or something? What the fuck?_

oOo

As is custom here, the men have left early to go and secure our places at the concert. We are guaranteed our seating due to my expected meeting with the Queen, but since it is custom, they go early anyway. We arrive when all the other females are arriving, so we blend in quite well. Esssme stands to my right side, and I grip her hand tightly.

Woman shuffle by on either side of us in all kinds of colors. Some colors, I've never seen in my life, but none of them are red. Roe-salie sidles up on my left and points to a woman up in front of us a ways. Her dress is kind of like a burnt orange color that skirts the boundaries of red.

Roe-salie leans into me, whispering, "Sssshe will pay a priccce for disssplaying ssssuch a color."

We file into a large hall, searching out the men. Ah-lisss spots Carlisss on the far right side of the room, and we all make our way over to them. As soon as Edwaird sees me, he rushes to my side, squeezing me to him. He leans down toward me, growling slightly, and it is all I can do to not attack him in the room full of people. He nibbles at my neck a little but straightens up when some kind of music begins to play.

The entire room falls quiet, everyone's attention focusing on the center of the room. Where there was once just a sea of people, there are now two separate groups as a long isle is formed down the center of the room. Several people begin to walk in until finally, the music stops completely. The room is totally silent, and finally, a female - who I assume is the queen - wearing a blood red gown, is escorted into the room. She makes it almost the entire way up to the front of the room when suddenly, she stops. I look at Edwaird and he appears just as confused as I am. Then I see Roe-salie stare at me, then nod towards the front of the room.

The queen continues her path to the front. Behind her trails the girl with the almost red dress. This can't be good. I look at Edwaird again, and he has a worried look on his face. Now I know this won't be good.

"Maaaiden! What issssss the tone of your garmaaaant?" The queen questions her. Her voice is powerful, demands attention, and is utterly frightening.

The girl doesn't answer. "Why doesn't she answer?" I whisper to Edwaird.

"The Queen doessss not desssire the ansswer. The female isss not worthy of making her voiccce known to the Queen," he replies.

I look forward again, in time to see a guard hand the queen a pair of shears. The queen bends down, starting at the bottom of the beautiful gown, and begins to slice upward. She gets to the girls thigh area, continuing to slice it away, and I have to close my eyes. If this is how she is just because of a dress, what the fuck is she going to do to me?

I open my eyes in time to see a guard escorting the woman from the large room in only her undergarments. When the commotion is over, Esssme leads us the area closer to the Queen's table, and we sit at our designated area. My hands shake a little, still upset by the display I've just witnessed, and Edwaird grabs my hand under the table, doing his best to calm my nerves.

Our evening meal is simply exquisite. I have no idea what it is that we're actually eating, but I'm pretty sure I eat both mine and Edwaird's helping of a few of the dishes. Emmeet eats about four helpings of everything and is quite bashful about it. Before long, our plates are cleared, and there us an announcement saying that soon the lights will go down in the house.

We chat for a few moments until a male, who appears to be one of the Queen's guard, approaches our table. He bends down and speaks with Essssme, who nods her head minimally in my direction. Edwaird grabs onto my hand again and squeezes it gently. Essssme then stands up, along with Edwaird beside me, and I rise up along with him.

This is it. Moment of truth.

The brute of a guard shoves people out of the way as we make our way toward the queen. Edwaird has me wrapped up tightly in his arm and tucked into his side as we walk. People watch us from everywhere in the room, and I can feel their eyes zeroing into the back of my head...and ears.

We finally reach the area that the queen is sitting, and she, too, has just finished eating. She was the first to be served and the last to finish. She must be a slow eater, or need a lot to wash her food down with. She glances up from her plate when she notices us standing before her. Edwaird and Esssme lower themselves to one knee before her, and I follow suit, unsure of what I should do.

"Risssse," she says. Her voice is slightly high pitched, but a little on the hoarse side. Still, it holds a great deal of authority. The three of us stand back up and wait for her to speak to us again.

"You are what isssss called a huuuman wohhhman, yessss?" she inquires.

I look up, then back down, unsure if I should make eye contact with her. I finally look back up and nod my head slightly. "Yes ma'am, or Queen Sssulpicia, or...I'm sorry, I'm unsure of how you prefer to be addressed," I admit.

Her eyes narrow slightly, resting on my collarbone, and I swallow in anxiety. Actually, I'm terrified. "You may refer to me asssss your Queen. Assss it issss my underssstanding, you will be unable to return to your planet. Yessss. It isss only natural that you now bow down to me."

"Yes, my Queen. Thank you."

Beside me, Edwaird quietly lets out a stream of air, and if I understand him, he is relieved. The Queen speaks to someone in her group, and I quickly chance a peek at Esssme, who looks pale, ill. I look back to the queen and see her whispering to someone while looking at me. The look on her face has gone from almost pleasant looking to furious. Who the fuck pissed on her shoe?

She raises her hand and flicks it at us. Edwaird quickly grabs one hand while Esssme grabs the other, and we quickly make our way back toward our table. My heart pounds in my chest, and I suck in large gulps of air, trying to calm myself. That wasn't so bad after all.

The lights begin to go down before we are even back to our table, and so when we do get there, we have no time to answer any questions. The music is about to start.

Now, I'd like to say that it's some blue woman that comes out and sings the Diva Song a la The Fifth Element, but that doesn't happen at all. There are a few different performances that we sit through before an upcoming intermission. My favorite out of the first three is a drum group that consists of all females. Their costumes resemble a more primitive age, and their hair is worn long and wild, twisting into dreads with feathers and ribbons woven throughout it. Each of them beat the drums in sync to the actions of the others, and it is simply mezmerizing.

Various times throughout the first part of the concert, I feel eyes on me. I'm being watched, scrutinized, like I'm a Christmas display that could potentially fall apart or explode. As nonchalantly as I can, I sneak peeks around the room and of course, it is always the Queen staring at me. The first time I catch her doing it, I smile at her. She stares daggers through me, and I turn my head quickly back to the performance. I do my best to focus on the performers but several more times, I feel her eyes burning my skin. I don't chance another glance when I feel her looking at me, but wait until the feeling is gone and then peer in her direction. The Queen whispers into the ear of one of her guards, and he watches me with a disgusted look on his face.

Edwaird nudges me then, and I turn my attention back to the performance and attempt to swallow down the dread that has unexpectedly shown up.

The performer before the intermission seems to not want to give up the stage, because he just keeps singing. Just when I think that he is going to be done, the song continues, and my bladder begins to protest all the wine I've drunk. When intermission finally arrives, Ah-lisss jumps up from her chair at the same time I do. We look at each other, laughing, then Ah-lisss grabs my hand and pulls me behind her. I hear the rest of our party's chairs scraping on the floor as they too rise, so they can use the restrooms during the break. Ah-lisss must have to go even worse than I do, because she pulls me quickly over to the bathroom area. When we are in, she locks the door behind us.

Each toilet is enclosed in its own little separate bathroom. There'is a door and four walls, and it even has its own ventilation system.

"Be right back," I tell Ah-lisss before walking into the small room.

oOo

Ah-lissss' POV ~

I move into the private room to make a releasssse. It issss mossst impossssible to think about anything other than Bell-a'ssss meeting with Queen Ssssulpicccia. We need detailsss, ssso that we may interpret the entire ssscenario.

"Bell-a, I am mossst curiousss asssss to how your introduction with Queen Sssulpicccia went," I ssspeak to her through the division.

"It was weird Ah-lisss, I mean. Not at all what I expected. I'll tell you when we're out of the bathroom," Bell-a repliessss.

I finisssh and move out of the cubicle over to the fresssshening counter. After sssteaming my handssss, Bell-a issss ssstill not out, ssso I give her ssseveral more momentssss to finissssh.

After a few more momentsss, I can wait no longer assss there are otherssss making a raucoussss noissse againssst the door in an attempt to enter.

"Bell-a, we musssst go." Ssshe givesss no ressssponse.

"Are you unwell, Bell-a?" I inquire, beginning to worry for her health.

Ssshe ssstill doesss not anssswer, and finally, I move to the door of her cubicle.

_knock knock_ "Bell-a?" _knock knock_ "Bell-a?" _knock knock_"Bell-a?"

Bell-a doesss not return my call. I attempt to open the door to her cubicle, but it doessss not open. I pull a pin from my hair and tamper with the latch on the door for ssssseveral momentsssss. The noissses from outssside grow louder, making me nervousss, but I am finally able to get the door open.

I gasssp at what I see, before I run from the room. More realissstically, I gasssp at what I do not sssee. There issss noBell-a, only the hanging vent that ssshe wassss taken through.

I fall through the door and pusssh mysssself through many angry sssouls, finally reaching Edwaird, falling into hisss armssss and sssobbing hard.

"Ah-lisss, where isss my Bell-a?" Edwaird asssskss, ssssounding worrisssome and angry.

I sssob loudly, flinging my ssshell into hisss armsss and tell him, "Vanissshed!"


	10. The Bond - A Twissst of Pain

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 10 – The Bond – A Twissst of Pain**

**Glossary:**

**wavessss of Uressssa** - auric colors seen in the meditative state that connect mates to one another

**ubilicus(sss) port** - belly button

**like a kit drawssss nectarr from a ssspitch** - like a bee draws nectar from a flower

**weakened nurishment pocket through this carrying phassse** - weak stomach through pregnancy

Edwaird's POV ~

We wait for Ah-lissss and my Bell-a ssset back from the ressst of the crowd. Many linger, sssspeaking to acquaintancccessss they have not had the pleasssure of sssseeing in quite a time. I watch the door, waiting to ssset my orbsss on my Bell-a again. I never imagined sssshe could look much more exxxquisssite than ssshe already doessss, but on thisss eve, sssshe isss breath-ssstealing.

I ssssee Ah-lissss bolt from the door, her appearancccce issss frantic, and my Bell-a doessss not accompany her.

Sssshe flingssss her ssshell into my arms and I grip onto her, assssking, "Ah-lisss, where isss my Bell-a?" I hear the heat and anger ssseep into my voiccce along with worry, but I can not erassse it.

Ah-lisss ssssobs loudly, flinging the ressst of her ssshell up against mine, then with a minissscule amount of air, saysss, "Vanissshed!"

I grab Ah-lisss by the armssss, pulling her ssshell away from me ssso that I can look into her orbssss, and see the pure terror there.

"Relay every detail to me with mossst hassste!" I demand.

The ressssst of my clan formsss a sssmall oval around Ah-lisss and myssself. I hold onto her, sssenssing her worry and the possssibility that thisss may be too much for her.

"Sssspeak with sssoft tonessss, Ah-lissss. The Queen hassss earsss everywhere," Esssme warnssss.

Ah-lissss nods, and sssays, "Bell-a and I were usssing the facccilitiesss. I ssspoke to her prior to going in, wasss telling her sssomething, but ssshe requesssted that I wait to tell her the resssst until we had both finissshed. I ssssteamed at the counter, awaiting her emergenccce. I waited longer, then finally assssked of her. Sssshe gave me no resssponcce, ssso I waited longer. I tapped on her door after a few momentssss, worried that sssshe had fallen ill from the stresssss. Sssshe gave no reply, ssso I took a pin from my hair and opened her door. When I opened it, sssshe wassss gone, and the air plate wassss ssswinging open. Ssshe isss gone. I am sssso ssssorry, Edwaird."

Ah-lissss again beginsss to sssob into my chessst. Essssme looks to me, ready to ssspeak, but I ssspeak first. "We mussst sssearch assss much assss possible. Ssshe could ssstill be here."

Jassspeer ssshakes hisss head at me. "No. The guard mussst have her." He glancccesss up at the Queen who isss focusssed on our clan. "Ssshe will have her gone from here immediately. Edwaird, do you feel anything? What isss your bond telling you?" he assssks.

I closssse my orbsss, focusssing on the tension in my body that issss oriented to only my Bell-a. I feel the rope within me warp, twissst, then pull sssslightly tighter. I gasssp, opening my orbssss.

"Sssshe isss not here, but ssshe isss alive. Although, I sussspect ssshe may be in ssslight pain," I relay.

That isss all we need to know. We quickly retrieve our belongingsss before essscaping the Queen's domain, making our way to the pod.

Once in the pod, we argue for a few momentssss, deccciding on where we mussst go.

"Edwaird isss the key. He isss the only way we will find Bell-a," Essssme announcesss.

"Get usss to the ssssatelitesss, Emmeet!" I demand.

Emmeet quickly liftsss the pod upward and we ssset out for our country domicccile and hidden sssatelite room. The trip takes a very ssshort time, and we are sssoon parked over bare land and running toward the bunker. Inssside, we monitor ssships that come and go through our atmossssphere. None belong to the Queen, and I begin to grow agitated. Ssssomething isss happening. I feel it within me, but I am unable to identify what it isss. I feel sssharp ssstings inssside of my body onccce in a while, and I have no doubt that they are hurting my Bell-a.

While everyone elssse isss studying sssatelitesss and watching the atmosssphere, I walk around, unable to sssstop. I move round and round, looking for sssomething, anything, when I feel a sssudden, sssharp twissst in my gut. It takes the breath from me, and I fall to my kneesss. I feel my Bell-a moving away from me then, and asss sssoon asss I'm able to ssstand again, I run over to the wall of ssscreensss.

A Queen'sss sssship leavessss our atmossphere, and asss ssssoon asss it hasss cleared the Beacon, it goesss into Blackout Mode.

"Mexxsssh!" I exclaim.

When a sssship goesss into Blackout Mode, it cannot be ssseen. Only ssships that are equipped for the Queen can do thisss. Our ssship issss alsssso able to do thisss, and we have the capability to hide from the Queen, but not find other sssshipsss that have gone into Blackout Mode.

"Edwaird, you know what thissss meansss. We mussst rely only on your Bond with Bell-a to find her. You mussst think of Bell-a and onlyBell-a," Esssme informssss me, while at the sssame time, moving usss from the bunker back to the pod.

The trip from the bunker to our larger ssship isss quick, and ssssoon we are sssettled in and making our way toward the Beacon. Onccce we are off of Sssisla, I do assss Esssme sssaysss. I think of nothing but my Bell-a.

oOo

Ah-lissss issss able to sssee thingsss. The majority of thessse thingsss ssshe seesss, revolve around mattersss of the mating ritual. For ssso long, malesss of my kind have been ssseeking out the intuition of my birth companion, enabling themssselvesss an insssight of their future mates. I wasss not ever one of the malesss to do sssso. I knew that if sssshe sensssed a matter of importanccce, ssshe would immediately notify me.

Thisss issss why, when I sssuddenly felt the sssshadow of a mate'sss presssence on the ssship prior to finding my Bell-a, I became confusssed and disssoriented very quickly. There wassss no warning, no time to make preparationssss, but only fall into dormancccy.

While normally, I'm never one to have ssscenes play out before me with resssting orbsss, they plagued me through my hibernation period. Repeatedly, my visual orbsss were only able to focusss on a sssingle perssson, who died each time I attempted contact. Each and every time sssshe exxxpired in thessse ssscenes, I fell further away from the waking period. It felt asss though ssshe was being drawn away from me, caussssing pain to flow through every cccell of my form.

Then I felt her presssense. Ssshe wasss closse to me. Clossser than I thought possssible. I began to awaken for ssshort periodsss of time, tassssting her sssscent on the air.

oOo

I feel another twissst in my gut. I am sssettled into the ssseat next to Emmeet assss he manueversss the ssship. He waitssss for my cuesss before he makesss changesss in our direction. We go by nothing other than the feeling within my ssssshell - the feeling that bindssss me to my Bell-a, telling me where sssshe iss and how I bessst can get to her. I point off toward the Mixarrr Conssstellation, feeling the pull from that direction.

The remainder of my clan issss in the compartment assss well, but like me, they feel no need to sssspeak unlesss it isss to find my Bell-a. There issss nothing of importanccce other than her. We will find her, and we mussst find her before it isss to late. Her final death issss sssomething I cannot even begin to comprehend.

I arrange my ssshell in the chair so that I may take myssself into a meditative sstate. In thisss way, I will enable myssself to maintain a true connection with my Bell-a. It isss of the mossst importanccce to remain intuitive to her in thesssse momentssss.

My cranium resssts againssst the back of the lounger, and my orb coversss clossse. I take deep breathes, coaxing my ssshell and my computer to find that plane, the plane where it isss only Bell-a and me. The wavessss of Uressssa find me, sssswirl around my sssshell, sssoothing me and pulling me deeper, closssser to my Bell-a.

I reprimand my thoughtsss, demanding they ssstay away from anything other than her, than our bond, and on finding her. I focusss my attentionsss on the familiar pull in my abdomen that has grown sssso taut it ssseemsss assss though that part of Bell-a within me, may be pulled out from my ubilicussss port.

oOo

Uresssa pullssss me deeper, and I remember the firssst phassse of the mating ritual. I had been in the hibernative ssstate for sssome time. The sssceness recurring in my computer were becoming more and more intenssse. The female met her final death every time, and with thissss, I became weaker, lesss able to pull mysssself out of the hibernation ssstate. I could feel my own fear but wassss unable to change it. That changed sssuddenly when I felt her presssence out of nowhere.

Our mating ritual wasss vivid. The firssst phasssse connected ussss together in an imposssible way. Ah-lisss and Essssme have dissscussed the mating ritual many timessss over, but the type of thing that happened between Bell-a and mysssself wassss never dissscussed. I do not believe it issss becaussse it issss a private matter. I trussst they would endow me with all of the knowledge they obtain. I believe that thissss issss a firssst for our kind, and what the meaning of that issss, I do not apperceive.

It wasss Bell-a herssself that wasss able to bring me back from the brink of my final death, while embedded in the hibernation ssstate. Her love, her complete commitment drew me out like a kit drawssss nectarr from a ssspitch.

At the time of the mating danccce, our first sssshell connection, the execution of the ending phassse wasss more powerful than I could have thought. It wasssn't ssso much the matter of physical releassse and pleasssure; it wassss that I became within Bell-a, and ssshe within me. There isss no way to desssscribe the intensssity of what wasss experienccced.

Then at a later time when we were able to focusss on one another, I began to noticcce different markingsss on her ssshell. Markingsss that did not make sssense to me, although they did. The marking on the inner ssside of her lowessst extremity, the rough patch behind her hearing ssshell. Nothing added up, and everything did.

oOo

A touch to my cranial column drawsss me from my tranccce. I look up, behind me, to ssse Esssme ssstanding behind me.

"Hasss a change taken placcce, Edwaird? Do you ssssense Bell-a'sss nearnesss?" ssshe quessstions, her voiccce low and filled with worried emotion.

I placcce my hand over hersss where it ressssts at my column. "I ssstill feel her, Esssme, although, her ssshell isss growing weaker, and I fear ssshe isss being beaten. The bond pulssses within me at timesss. Her pain isss mine."

Esssme grasssps my hand tightly and draws a large intake of air. I hear her let it out ssslowly behind me.

"You musssst remain focusssed, Edwaird. We mussst find her," ssshe sssays, then retreatsss.

I ssset my jaw asss another twisst of pain sssurgess through me, thissss time, much ssstronger. I sssupresss a painful groan, but sssee Emmeet glanccce over at me, worry written plainly upon hissss cranial sssurface. I ssshake my head at him and focusss on my Bell-a onccce more. I feel a change in direction and point in itsss direction. Emmeet immediately changessss our courssse and I feel usss get clossser yet to her.

Asss we get clossser and clossser to her, I begin to feel pain all over my ssshell. The stabsss come at a fassster pacce, leaving me almosssst no time to recover from the lassst. If thisss isss how bad it feelssss to me, I can only imagine how it hurtsss my Bell-a.

A sssob ripsss through me, and I cannot contain it. "They are beating her. Her life forccce isss thin now," I tell my clan through a grimaccce. I hear Jassspeer growl with fiercccenesss behind me. He underssstandsss thisss. Her pain, my pain, although Ah-lisss never had to endure her mate'sss pain asss it wasss before they came together. I would never wisssh thisss on Ah-lisss, not in a million querasss.

The nexxxt ssstab of pain forrccesss my body forward, and I expel on the floor in front of me ssseveral timesss. Emmeet groansss bessside me, but he maintainsss his focusss. He hasss taken a weakened nurishment pocket through this carrying phassse. I sssit back up and sssuddenly, noticce that our bond is weakening again. Ssshe isss losssing her will.

"We mussst move fassster, Emmeet! We are losssing her!" I pull at my hair, beginning to panic then collapssse into the chair, feeling my head leave me momentarily.

That issss when I feel the direction change again. I look to the monitor and sssee where ssshe isss now leading usss. I point in itsss direction, and Emmeet looksss over at me, making sssure that he isss underssstanding me. I nod.

"Jasspeer. I requessst your utmossst forgivenesss, my dear clan member." I ssstand up, holding my arm around my middle, fearing that I may fall apart, but meet Jassspeer's gaze. He peersss at the ssscreen, then at me.

"Thisss is valid?" he quesstions.

I nod. "Sssshe isss there. On the largessst particle that isss left of Kaswhahk." I know with all that isss in me that ssshe isss there, and it makesss it that much harder, becaussse thissss will now caussse Jassspeer pain.

Jassspeer nodsss at me, then facccesss Ah-lisss. I turn back to the screen and fall back to my chair assss an onssslaught of beatingsss wrack Bell-a'sss ssshell. I cry out in pain, and when it isss over, I gasssp for air. Her air sacsss are damaged.

Assss we move toward Kaswhahk, I feel the pull between usss grown ssstronger, yet weaken. We are clossser to her, yet ssshe isss fading at a quickening paccce. The pain that flowsss through my ssshell pulsses all over, to move any part of my ssshell induccesss excruccciating ssstabs through my core.

I ceassse my movementsss, for they only caussse more pain, and inssstead, turn my attention back to Bell-a. There isss sssomething, sssomething that I have not ssseen. I am unable to mark what it issss, but I know it hasss sssomething to do with the Queen.

There wassss not much interaction between my Bell-a and the Queen. Thisss I wasss taken back by, and Esssme too, I believe. There ssshould have been more, yet the Queen disssmissed her nearly asss sssoon asss ssshe sssummoned her. The Queen asssked no quessstions, none important in the leassst, which ssshe alwaysss doesss.

I own no doubt, thissss isss the Queen'ssss doing. The Queen isss ridding of her, but sssso quickly, I am not sssure why. Ssshe did it at her own party, which disssrupted the flow of the event. The Queen dessspissses that kind of thing.

After traveling a great dissstanccce, we are upon the firssst trailsss of Kaswhahk debris. It will not be much further. We are clossser to the largessst remnant of what isss left of Kaswhahk. Esssme movesss to ssstand in front of me.

"You are of ccccertainty that Bell-a isss here, Edwaird, yesss?"

"I am cccertain of it, Esssme. I feel her near."

"Why here, Edwaird? Why hasss thisss happened. Ssshe isss a human female. Ssshe possses no threat to our Queen, or our kind. Why would the Queen get rid of her?"

Esssme changesss her tone in the lassst two quessstions. Ssshe sssenses sssomething. Ssshe givess me nuturing look, the look that saysss 'you are bourn of me, hold not a thing from me' and I cannot help it. I mussst confide my thoughtsss, feelingsss to her.

"You mussst tell me. When you found my Bell-a, did you do an examination of her ssshell?"

"Yesss, but not a full examination. It wasss necessssary to change her garmant asss well. You inquire of thisss why?"

"You examined her marking? On her lower extremity?" I asssk.

Esssme tapss her finger to her chin, than ssaysss, "Yesss. It isss a peculiar marking. I have thought on it many timesss."

With the forccce of a ssssoopla of Sssooom, it hitsss me, and I know. I know why the Queen hasss tried to rid of my Bell-a.

Esssme sssees the expression upon my cranial sssurface and asks impatiently, "What isss it, Edwaird? What have you concluded?"

I look up at Esssme, directly into her orbsss, willing her to think about the marking. "The marking, the Queen, my Bell-a. Envision, Esssme!" I exclaim at her, ssssuddenly ssso very sscared for my Bell-a, even more than before.

Esssme's orbsss glaze over with concccentration, then refocusss on me. Sssshe movesss her cranium from ssside to ssside, minimally, then whissperss, "Ssshe couldn't be?"

But ssshe isss.


	11. This Unexpected Truth

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 11 - This Unexpected Truth**

**Glossary:**

Mirrrah-ha - mirror image

nixxxxtah - witch

Unam – mother

Marmsss – teachers/tutors

**Story Note**: The youngest astronaut to actually launch to date was 32 years old at the time. Bella is somewhat of a genius and was able to have her first launch just a little younger than this.

Bella's POV ~

I finish my business and begin the arduous task of buttoning my gown back up. It was done quickly earlier in the evening when I'd first put it on, but then I'd had three other women to help me. I grind my teeth together, fidgeting behind my back and finally just give up. I'll just ask Ah-lisss for help.

I like Ah-lisss; she seems to know me already, and though Roe-salie was a bit of a cold fish for a while, even seems like she is beginning to warm up to me. Besides, I'm pretty sure she thought that I was going to try to steal Emmeet away from her. Ha! Not likely. This whole male pregnancy thing is kind of squicking me out.

I move my hand to open the door when I hear a clicking sound above me. I turn to look up, surprised at the sight. All of a sudden, hands reach down through the air vent above my head, plucking me off of the floor. I open my mouth to let out a belated scream, but a hand clamps it shut, quickly stifling any sounds I might make. They pull me into an air shaft that is large enough for a small family to live comfortably in.

"Efff emmmm guh!" I scream through the fingers pressed over my mouth. I was trying to say 'let me go,' but it doesn't come out sounding anything like that.

This only causes the hand to tighten over my mouth, so instead of speaking, I begin to wriggle around as much as possible in an attempt to break free and run.

The other hand of the man behind me (I assume it is a man) wraps around my neck, and I freeze. The three very large men that have taken me speak quickly. I make out "Queen" and "Kas"-something, but nothing else. The large guard twists me around to face him, and I instantly recognize him. He is the guard that took me to meet the Queen.

He looks over me, and I have the sudden urge to spit in his face. Too bad I can't with his hand over my mouth. I watch his eyes change from slight confusion to something like recognition. This frightens me more than anything, and I begin to squirm again. His hand around my neck tightens, and he grins at me. He looks at another guard and says, "Pexxssscht!"

One of the guards behind me takes over holding me, holding me in place and recovering my mouth. I watch the brute of a guard in front of me reach to his back, pulling out a long, odd looking blade. Panic surges through me, and I clench my eyes shut, not wanting to see. This is it. The Queen h as decided I'm too much of a liability to have around. She acted quickly, that's for sure.

With my eyes still tightly shut, I fear the sharp pain of the blade cutting into my skin. What I don't expect is where I feel the pain - first behind one ear then the other.

I open my eyes and look at the guard, but the second I smell the rusty smell of my own blood in the air, everything goes black.

oOo

I don't know how long I am unconscious before I wake up, but when I do, I've been blind-folded. I feel the once sticky blood behind my ears now beginning to dry a bit as I turn my neck from side to side. It pulls at my skin as I move. My arms are tied behind my back, and my feet bound at the ankles.

I have nothing to rely on except my senses of smell and hearing. I try to concentrate on all of the sounds around me and sniff the air to see if we are still in that dingy smelling air shaft. We aren't. The air here smells clean, much more clinical, like it had when I was on the ship on my way to Sisla the first time. They are taking me somewhere.

I take in deep breaths of the air, then notice, I can _taste_ it. In fact, my hearing seems to have increased, and even with the blindfold over my eyes, I can see swirling, shadowy colors. My heart begins to thump heavily in my chest as I feel panic wash over me. Maybe they have killed me, or at least seriously injured me. Am I in a dream state, or even worse, in a coma?

I hear voices then, the deep voices of the men that took me. Their faces flash through my mind as I hear each of their voices, connecting the voice to the face. This has to be a dream because this is not something I have ever been able to do before. Maybe just being blindfolded has opened up a bit of a sixth sense or something. I have no clue.

I pretend to be unconscious and simply listen to what they say. They speak quickly, and I realize that the rest of my new family has been speaking quite slowly for me. I can pick words out, but not entire sentences. They are talking about me and the Queen. They keep saying the word "prophecy" and "destined" which only serves to further confuse me.

I attempt to slightly move around on the floor where they've put me as I can feel pins in needles in my ass and right leg, but I lose my balance and fall over and hitting something on my way which causes a bunch of noise that I know they hear.

One of them stalks over, his heavy feet, clopping against the floor. This seems uncharacteristic compared to the quiet agility of my family. This blindfold business is beginning to get really annoying.

The man leans down in front of me - I can tell, because his putrid breath assaults my face - but says nothing. He takes ragged breathes, blowing his tangy air across my face and I could practically puke from that alone.

"Mirrrah-ha," he finally says, but it sounds like he is turned away from me as he speaks, talking more to the other guards than to me.

"It issssss you. The forbidden child, explained to have met the final death." His words make no sense to me, and I would tell him this, if I weren't still gagged.

I shake my head at him, trying to convey my confusion, but I feel his cold, clammy fingers at my throat. They lift the pendant of my necklace from my skin, and I wonder what he thinks of it. The rest of my family had seemed utterly astonished in my choice, and although I was never able to get a reason for this, I suspect it means something either significant or horrible.

My necklace is dropped, and it thumps against my chest, making a sound like a heavy stone hitting wet sand when it lands. It leaves a sting against my flesh, but I quickly forget about it because it is replaced by a much worse pain, the pain of being backhanded across the face.

My cry is muffled by the gag, but the force of his hit sends me sliding across the floor of wherever the fuck I am. I wince in pain and simply have to endure what is being done to me. I cannot fend for myself; my hands and feet have been tied, my mouth gagged, and my eyes blindfolded.

So this is the type of "men" they are.

Yes, I was scared before, but now I understand what they intend for me. Now I know that this will be my end. I will never see Edwaird or the rest of my new family again, and with that realization, the panic begins to set in. A horrible twist of terror rips through my chest, and the pain of it hurts so much worse then the actual slap did.

I hear the men laughing at my expense. Laughing at beating a woman, but suddenly, the blindfold is ripped from my head, the gag, removed. My hands and legs remain bound.

"The resssssemblancccce to Her Greatnesssss in youth, issss mossst assstonisshing!" one of the men exclaims.

"It issss mossst miraculousss that ssshe wasss not noticcced to be of _The Purity_ much sssooner," the third replies.

The first, my main captor and the man that hit me, simply sits in a chair across the room from me, saying nothing, but staring a lot. I look back and forth between the three of them, attempting to make sense of what they are talking about. I want to ask, but I fear that speaking will only bring more beating. Still, I think they intend to kill me no matter what, and if I'm going to die, I at least want to know what the fuck I'm dying for.

"What are you talking about? Resemblance to who and what purity?" I'm pretty sure my purity disappeared a long long time ago.

The asshole brute across from me simply smiles and says nothing. I understand the other two to be subordinate because they look over at him, see the menacing expression on his face and directed at me, and all of a sudden, mum is the word.

The three men go back to taking us wherever it is we are going, giving me time to think, to look around and see what kind of fucking situation I'm in. I mean, I know that it's a bad one, but at least now, I have time to find an exit route in case I get the chance to escape. Then again, that can't really be possible, since I'm once again in outer space and have no idea where they are taking me, or whether I'll even be able to breathe the air at our destination.

_Fuck, how do I get into these situations?_

Looking around, I see that the ship I'm on closely resembles to my family's ship, except theirs is much homier. I twist my head as far as possible to look around, still laying on the floor after falling over and feel a stab of pain behind my ears. I forgot that they'd cut me for a little bit there. The dried blood pulls at my skin, and I feel an oozing warmth there again. I think I have re-opened the wound on the left side.

A green haze falls over my vision as I look around, leaving a bit of a cloud to see through. I'm not sure which has changed and why there is now this weird film, but it makes me tired. I attempt to keep my eyes open, not wanting to fall asleep in this situation, but it can't be helped, and I fall under.

oOo

"Uh!" I wake from a rough kick to the gut. I cough, and sputter, trying to regain the breath that has been knocked out of me.

"Awaaaken, nixxxxtah!" Alien Asshole Number One yells.

My eyes, feeling as though they have heavy stones holding them down, struggle open. The green haze I remember from earlier is gone, and all I can see over top of me are the asshole three giants glaring down at me. AAN-1 bends over and grips me around the waist, lifting me up and flinging me over his shoulder. AAN-2 and -3 follow behind with their odd looking weapons pointed at my head.

_Sure. Like I look like I could cause much damage. Fuckers!_

We weave through many corridors until finally coming to the ship's hatch. The door lifts up, and we emerge from the ship. None of the assholes wear any kind of mask over their faces to help them breathe, so I think I'll be okay as well.

I struggle to keep my head as they start to trek over a rugged terrain, keeping my eyes open and looking around. I attempt to comprehend what I'm seeing.

Desolation, sadness. Everything is completely destroyed. The debris of long past lives litter the ground, and a lump of sadness forms in my throat. This was once a planet, once a home. It reminds me of the story Ah-lisss told me about Jassspeer.

AAN-3 gets close behind me, flicking me behind the ear. I scream out in pain, and they all laugh. Warmth once again trickles down my neck, except this time, on the right side. I can't help but notice that every time the wounds are re-opened, everything around me seems so much clearer, like I'm able to envision things that I shouldn't be able to see.

Without any warning, I'm dropped with force down to the ground. I land hard on my ass and cry out as a sharp pain moves through my left leg up into my lower back. I move around a little to ensure that I haven't been seriously hurt. I can still wiggle my toes and fingers, so I don't think I've been paralyzed. Still, my back and ass ache horribly.

"Ssstupid nixxxxtah! You were not to ever return. Your life would have remained assss it wasss supposed to, if you had ssstayed there...on Earrrth, with your ssssurogate clan. The Queen issss thoroughly disssappointed. Ssshe trusssted you would never return." AAN-1 explains, confusing me beyond all belief.

"What are you talking about? I've never been here before! How could I?" I exclaim, losing my temper, which is stupid, since they will probably beat me for it. I'm just fed up. I have no fucking idea what is going on, and I'm probably going to die.

_Oh my God. I'm going to die._

AAN-1 laughs a dark, terrifying laugh, then says, "Your computer failsss you ssso, nixxxxtah. It isss a ssshame. You would have been a beautiful Queen, but I am loyal to your Unam. Her will isss mine, which isss why you mussst meet your final death."

Then he slaps me hard. I fall backward, hitting my head on something hard as I land. My vision swims in front of me, but I struggle to stay focused, awake. I may have a concussion, and the most important thing right now is staying awake, because awake means alive.

"You are on what isss left of Kassswhahk. Thisss land isss nothing but a remnant of what oncccce wasss. The Queen did thisss, much to the confusssion of your clan; it wasss her doing, not re-belsss. Ssshe hasss ordered it to be completely dessstroyed; an eyesssore to the sssky. It ssseems perfect that it will be you to go out with it'sss last glorioussss blassst."

I feel several strong blows then. My legs, arms, back and stomach, they are all attacked. I clench my eyes, feeling the pain move through my entire body, and scream out in pain over and over again. A large shoe slams against my shoulder, and I hear the sickening crunch of my clavicle being broken.

Fists punch my stomach over and over again, and I am so close to passing out. I want to pass out, but I can't. I have to hold on. I picture Edwaird in my mind, hold onto him to keep me there, keep myself from letting go. I feel a large boot slam down on my chest followed by another sickening crunch.

Something in my chest squeezes tight then, and breathing becomes so incredibly painful. I want to scream, but I can't find the air to even speak, much less scream. I feel my body pull the air, but it struggles to retract it from my lungs, or at least one of them.

"Shahn!" AAN-1 yells at the other two, and the beating stops for the moment.

"It isss your time to meet your final death, Bell-a. Doesss your computer recognizzze why thisss mussst be?"

I can't find the air, so I shake my head no, minimally, because moving is so so very bad.

"Let me recount the ssstory for you. It will be the lassst thing you ever hear, daughter of Sssulpicccia."

I make myself open my eyes to look at him. There is a soft light on the horizon, so it seems that it took us nearly a full day to get here. When we left Sisla, it was dark out, and it is now getting onto sunset. I focus on the sun for a few moments, memorizing it and gathering as much strength from it as I can. I do my best to regulate my breath, but it's hard and the pain is indescribable.

Finally, I resign myself to listening. None of what he has said makes any sense, but I will myself to focus and look at him once again.

"Isss it within your underssstanding what I have been sssaying to you, nixxxxtah?" he asks.

I shake my head minimally. It hurts too much to move.

"Thisss truth beginsss clossse to - in your human time - thirty yearsss ago. Yesss, the Queen hasss required me to learn of your time, ssso that I wassss alwaysss aware of your age and what your life ssstagesss were in ssso that I could report it back to Her Highnesss."

The Queen wassss never keen on children. Conssidered her sssiblings to be of a nuisssancce. Ssshe wasss the gem holding the mossst ssshine to her father. Sssshe would be the nexxxt to reign, though thisss greatly vexxed her brother, who held more age over her."

The Queen held great knowledge. She wasss able to sssee things her brother could not, enabling her to quickly grow even further unto the graccce of their father. The Queen trained under the bessst of marmsss. Her practiccce in rigidity impressed her father ssso, that when he became illl, without sssecond decisssion, he passsed the crown. Her brother wasss furiousss, and shortly after the King met hisss final death, Sssulpicccia'sss brother attempted to end her life. He wasss unsssuccessssful, which resssulted in his own death by Sssulpicccia'ss hand."

"The Queen vowed ssshe would never have to deal with that kind of ssscenario again. No one would take away what ssshe had worked ssso hard for, and being of the puressst blood and reigning over Ssssisla would give her an even longer life ssspan than the rest of our kind hasss."

"That wasss of courssse, until ssshe wassss not quite assss careful assss she ssshould have been. Ssshe would not allow herssself to ever mate, knew that there would not ever be one ssshe could truly ever trussst or give herssself over to for the ressst of her life sspan. That did not mean that ssshe did not require intimacccy. Quite the contrary, ssshe was quite fond of intimacccy, until during a intimacccy meeting, her partner mentioned children. That wasss all it took for her to passs the ovum. You sssee, with our kind, you can sssimply think it, and it isss done."

"Ssshe wanted to kill him, but decccided better of it. Ssshe allowed him to endure the carrying of her ovum, and when the child wassss born, ssshe had him murdered, then took the child."

He looks at me pointedly then, and says, "Ssshe and I traveled to the planet Earrrth, where we watched people for ssseveral of their _daysss_ until we found the perfect clan. They wanted a bairn of their own ssso badly, but had been unsuccesssful. Sssulpicccia sssaw the perfect opportunity in them. Assss much assss she did not want a child, ssshe would not murder one."

"She asssked them not to asssk her any quessstions, it would only make complicationsss. She only required one thing of them, and then, ssshe promisssed them they would never ssset eyesss on usss again. They were grateful. They promisssed to do what Ssshe demanded, and they did, I sssee."

I raise my eyebrows in question at him.

He sighs loudly, like I'm the stupidest person alive. "Sssshe required them to cover your flain. You are the first and only bairn of Her Highness, Queen Sssulpicccia."

I shake my head at him hard, momentarily forgetting the pain all over my body. "No. That can't be! I'm human! There are pictures of my mom holding me in the hospital! I was born on Earth!"

Speaking leaves me breathless and wheezing.

"Thessse photosss you ssspeak of, they were taken after the procccedure to cover your flain, not your birthing. Make no missstake, Bell-a. You are the Highessst daughter of Queen Sssulpicccia. Think about the markingsss upon your ssshell. Your dessstiny marking, the roughnesss behind your hearing ssshell. They tell you who you truly are."

I do exactly what he suggests. I think about the perfect rectangle of a scar on my inner thigh. I think about how it always drove me crazy that the skin behind my ear was kind of bumpy and itched sometimes, like I needed to scratch at it and scrape it away. Then I think about my birthmark, the one that Edwaird also has. Destined duo. What does that mean?

"Destined duo. What does that mean?" I ask him.

His eyes darken with my question, and when he answers, his anger is back with the force of evil behind it. "It will never be, for you are sssoon to meet your final death. Your other will not find you in time, Bairn of Sssulpicccia. It isss her will to end you, for you are no longer of new birth."

"But why?" I ask, although, I think I already know.

"Ssshe will not allow you to take her place. Ssshe isss the Queen, and if you sssurfaccce, you will take her placcce, for ssshe hasss reigned for a long time, longer than any before her."

"But I don't want it. I don't, I just want to spend the rest of my life with Edwaird and nothing more. I don't want it! I swear to you!" I exclaim, beginning to sob which hurts my chest further.

"It isss no matter. Her health deterioratesss with you near. Her ssshell detectsss your nearnesss, making her computer tell the rest of her working organisssms to go to resssting mode. Ssshe will travel to her final death with you near. You mussst be gotten rid of."

"Wait. You can just take me back to Earth! Yes! That's the answer! I'll never come back, I swear. I'd never remember how to get back here anyway! Please!" I beg.

He scoffs. "Your mated one would come for you. He will alwaysss bring you back. No. Thisss is the end for you."

I can't stop the sobs that slip from me. They hurt badly, but I can't stop them. "Please. I just want to be with Edwaird. Nothing more."

Tears cloud my eyes, and I close them, choosing to think about Edwaird and picture him in my head for whatever time I have left. I see his beautiful face in my mind. I tell him things to my pictured Edwaird. _I love you. I will wait for you. Come to me, but not too soon, and be well without me. I will always be with you, Edwaird. I love you. I love you._

The three assholes are moving things around. I can hear them drop things and mutter, but I'm beginning to fade away. I can't find the energy to open my eyes, so I simply listen to what they do. I demand myself to stay for as long as I can, refusing to give up my life easily.

Finally, their noise stops, and suddenly, I can hear the footsteps of only one of them. They come near to me, then stop.

"I am not remorssseful to do thisss. I have loved her assss long assss I have lived. Assss long assss ssshe is Queen, I will be at her ssside. Thisss isss how it mussst be." That's all AAN-1 says. He leans over, cutting free my feet from their binding but leaving my hands bound, then I hear his footsteps retreat.

I hear the ship start up and the roar of sound it makes as it leaves the atmosphere of this planet, then, I am alone.

What do you do when you know you are about to die? Not only die, but die in the most painful way. I'd prefer to die quickly, prefer that they would've just shot me or something so I don't have to sit here, hurting every time I take a fucking breath.

Now that my legs are free, I try to move myself into a more comfortable position, but every part of my body objects to moving. I cry out as sharp stabs of pain occur all over. I relax into the ground and close my eyes as the last remnant of the evening sun disappears behind the horizon.

I think about everything I can possibly conjure up. Even Jake. I think about the epic fucking Bacon-Cheddar Burgers at Gonzo's Pub just down the street from my place, Raspberry Torte from Adele's.

I think about Jake and what he did for me. He helped me to become a strong-willed woman. Sure, I did the work myself, but when it came to actually applying to NASA, he prodded me the whole way. He was my best friend, and although I was never able to make it past that and really do the intimacy thing with him, I will always love him.

I think of my mom and my dad. Everything. Every birthday I can remember, every time I sat on my dad's lap, the diner and going out once a week for cobbler. My dad was the one to get me started on pies. Even cranky old Mr. Molena, my high school science teacher that got me so interested in space and stars. Even though he could throw temper tantrums better than a four-year-old, he was able to help me see the beauty of the stars, constellations, everything. He helped mold me into the person I became.

My mind wanders to my new family. I think of Essssme and how she was so sweet to me, truly, like the mother I needed at a time when everything was so scary to me. Ah-lisss and even Roe-salie, like sisters. Doing things for me and just being a shoulder to lean on. I suppress a laugh thinking about Emmeet and his little baby fanny pack. I'm going to miss him a lot. Jassspeer and Carlisss too, they were so very kind to me.

Breathing is becoming harder, and for the very first time, I admit that I am utterly terrified to die. The first time, I really wasn't aware of it, therefore, had no time to actually dwell on it. This time, it's entirely different. I have all the time in the universe to simply think of dying - of my life ending - and how could that not be scary as fucking hell?

I do my best to ignore the severe pain. The sticky wetness in several areas of my body alerts me that I'm bleeding in a few different areas, but there is nothing I can do about it. I simply think about Edwaird. My beautiful mate, my reason for living, I'm sure. Although we've had such a short time together, I find that I cannot regret any part of it. I know that without a doubt, I was meant to find him. I may not understand why our time was cut so short together, but I'm so very thankful for the time I had with him.

I can see his green eyes now in my head, practically feel the silkiness of his crazy reddish-brown hair. I pretend to run my fingers through it and down to his ears. Run my fingers over his flain. Touch my forehead to his, and in my mind, tell him,_I love you,_ one last time.

I cough and feel thick wetness slide out of my mouth and down my cheek, then to my neck. Tears slowly begin to slide out of the corners of my eyes, and I resign myself to sleep; there is nothing more I can do.


	12. A New Beginning

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 12 ~ A New Beginning**  
**  
**  
**Glossary:**

Ssssisssookah - creator/destroyer  
Sssssigma Range Tip – tip of a mountain range that holds very cold temps  
Unma & Fissseere – Mother and Father

**Fuurrth - fourth**

Essssme's POV ~

I posssition my ssshell near to Edwaird's; hissss computer flutterssss between a conssssciousss ssstate, and not. I fear the only comfort I may offer to him at thissss time, isss my digitsss upon the junction of hissss upper extremetiesss and the growth line of hisss hair, doing my bessst to withdraw ssssome of hisss tensssion.

Emmeet guidesss the ssship clossser to the planet then sssslowly bringsss usss clossser to the sssurface. Edwaird'sss ssshell joltsss beneath my digitsss, convulsssing.

"Emmeet, you musssst move ussss fassster. We are losssing them both!" I command, my voicccce sssshrill with concccern.

The ssship touchesss down on the planet, and Edwaird'ssss sssshell immediately ssstills. I take his faccce in my handssss, moving it around in an attempt to wake him, but he issss ssstill, fully unconscioussss now. I am unable to compute what thisss means for Bell-a and he; I only know that we musssst move with mossst hassste.

I ssssummon all ssssmall remnants of ressstraint within me and will my voiccce to order my clan into action. "Emmeet, you mussst remain here ssso that upon our return with Bell-a the ssship will be ready to lift at onccce. Ah-lissss ssstay here, Roe-sssalie and Carlissss will come with me. Jassspeer, prepare the renewal chamber and be sssure that all ssssupliess are in possssition."

We all dissspurse at the sssame inssstant. Roe-sssalie and Carlissss follow me while the othersss ssscatter off to perform their tassssks. Emmeet remainss in hisss ssseat, appearing forlorn and ussseless.

Roe-sssalie, Carlisss and mysssself quickly prepare our ssshellsss with the appropriate defensses then exit the ssship. My computer recallssss the direction Edwaird'sss sssshell had been pointing when he finally fell into a thoroughly unconsssciousss ssstate, and I point in that direction, deccciding that it wasss hisss lassst chanccce at getting assss near assss possssible to hisss Bell-a.

We move quickly while ssstaying together for protection. I do not know how long we travel, but finally, when we are all near exhaussstion, we come upon large parcccelsss, flassshing with lightsss.

"De-tonssss. Tread with mossst care," I warn. Carlisss fallsss to line in behind Roe-sssalie, and ssshe, behind me. Beyond me and with the illumination ccchamber I hold in my digitsss, I sssee the crumpled form of Bell-a.

"Carlisss! Read the de-tonssss!"

Carlisss runsss to inssspect the de-tonsss and behind me, Roe-sssalie gassssps. Ssshe looksss around my ssshell, sssees Bell-a, then runsss around me to her. I move with her and grip Roe-sssalie before sssshe leefts Bell-a from the hard sssurface.

I lower my ssshell, handing the illumination ccchamber to Roe-sssalie ssso that I may inssspect Bell-a'ssss injured ssshell. Blood poursss forth from her nossse, and sssshe hassss many cutsss and bruissses upon her ssshell. There issss alssso a trickle of blood that hassss come out of her mouth and runssss down the ssside of her faccce. Thisss concccernsss me mossst.

I rip a particle of my garment from the bottom sssseam and hold it to Bell-a'sss mouth, cleaning away the blood. I move in posssition to attempt a fassst healing procccedure. It will not lassst in the ssstate that ssshe isss in, but will hold long enough to return to the sssship.

At that inssstant, Carlisss issss back at my ssside. "We mussst go. The de-tonssss, they will go sssoon. We musssst get away from here!" Hisss voiccce carriessss fear, and without further hesssitation, I liffft Bell-a from the hard planet sssurface.

We turn and run then. Roe-sssalie ssstaysss at the lead, carrying the illumination ccchamber, while Carlissss trailsss directly to my rear, at the ready to catch Bell-a ssshould I fall. He keepssss hisss hand at my ssshoulder, urging me fassster, leading me to believe that we may all very well be clossse to our final deathsss.

"The sssship!" Roe-sssalie exclaimssss.

I ssssee it ahead of usss, and by the time Carlisss, Bell-a and I reach it, the hatch issss open for usss. The moment we ssstep onto it, we lift from the ground with ssssuch sssudden forccce, that we fall to the floor. Bell-a crumplessss againssst me, and thissss tellsss me that her injuriesss are very great indeed.

Carlissss takesss her from me and runssss toward the renewal ccchamber, cradling her in hissss armsss like a sssmall ccchild. My chessst clenchessss with worry for my new daughter but alsssso isss touched at the care that Carlisss showsss for her.

After I regain my balanccce, I run down the corridors to the renewal cccchamber. Carlisss and Jassspeer have already hooked up ssseveral linesss to Bell-a, and sssshe issss connected to a concccentrated breathing particle tube.

"Hassss ssshe been ssssedated?" I inquire.

Carlisss continuesss to work and Jassspeer anssswers me assss he cutsss away her garmentsss.

I return my focusssss to Bell-a, covered by a cloth at her center and down, but expossssed from there up. I gassssp, my digits fluttering to my orifacccce flapssss when my orbssss take in the sssspackling of markssss upon Bell-a'sssss left breasssst. I move over to Edwaird, whom liessss on the table nexxxt to Bell-a. Without any care, I rip his top garment down it'ssss ccccenter, exposssing his upper ssshell ccchamber.

I turn my attention to Carlisssss, noticccing that he too, ssssees the marking, looking from Bell-a to Edwaird.

"Carlissss! Could it be?" I quesssstion assss I get closssser to Bell-a to better inssspect her marking.

"What issss it?" Jassspeer quessstions, confussssion obvioussss in his tone.

It issss Carlisss that anssswers him, assss my orbssss do not break their gaze with Bell-a'ssss marking, and my voicccce refussses to come to me.

"Our Edwaird posssssessesss an identical marking to Bell-a'sssss. Thisss issss utterly remarkable," he sayssss, sssstill ssstaring at Bell-a. He lookssss to me then, and ssssaysss, "Essssme, we mussst contact The Oracle!"

I nod my computer, agreeing with him. "Jasssspeer, pleassse ssssend transsssmittancccce to The Oracle'ssss Keeper."

Without hessssitation, Jasssspeer fleessss the room, and Carlisss and I work on reviving Bell-a'ssss weakened life forcccce. Pushing ssshe and Edwaird'ssss tablessss together, I link their handssss together, ssso they may find each other and come back to ussss.

oOo

Bella's POV ~

_I can feel myself slipping, slipping fast, and then all of a sudden, I'm not. All around me I see colors swirling, but they're murky, dingy. It feels as though I'm back-floating through mud. Any attempt to move my position is futile; the mud seems to have a grip on me, and no matter what I do to try to move, I can't._

_Not only that, but with every attempt, I'm drained of all energy, not that I have a lot of it anyway. Instead of trying to change where I am - wherever that may be - I decide to just stay put, because like I said, movement is next to impossible._

_I don't know how long I've been lying here like this, but after a while, my surroundings change. The colors suddenly change, morphing from browns, greens and grays to much more vivid colors. Fuchsia, emerald, cerulean and the boldest crimson red I've ever seen immediately flood my vision, and then I feel it. I feel him. I feel my Edwaird._

_This dream or subconscious me speaks to Edwaird, but I don't feel my mouth move. "Edwaird. Is that you?"_

_Edwaird lies sleeping, floating with me in this, wherever we are. He doesn't respond to me, and I stroke his jaw, then his flain, trying to wake him. He remains sleeping so I simply curl into a ball at his side and wrap his arm around my shoulders, falling asleep._

oOo

Edwaird's POV ~

_I awaken, and sssshe isss there, my Bell-a. We are in a ssssevere ssstate that I recognizzze by the auric huesssss of the early death march. I turn my computer and orbssss to my right ssside, feeling that my arm isss ssstuck. There myBell-a liessss, ssssleeping, or worssse. It musssst not be worssse. _

_I raissse my other arm to ssshake her awake, but the motion drainssss me of the minimal life forccce I have ssstored, and I fade back out._

oOo

Bella's POV ~

_When I wake this time, I smile at the sight that my eyes open up too. Edwaird is still laying beside me, but he too is awake and propped up on his elbow, gazing at me. I lift my hand up to his face, cupping it, and smile back at him._

_"I knew you'd come for me, but why are you here? Were you hurt badly somehow? Please Edwaird, I can't bear it if something horrible has happened to you because of me." I begin to sob, and he uses the pad of his thumb to brush away my tears._

_"Ah-gizzzzzzz, my Bell-a. You are thine mate, your plight issss mine, and where you go, I follow, even in the final death. I wisssh it ssso."_

_I begin to sob harder at his words. I can't help it. He can't die, ever! Edwaird pulls me closer, and with his body nearly covering mine, I begin to feel better, stronger. The colors change again, and it seems that there are clouds a little ways off. I can see a sheet of rain fall from them._

_"It's raining?" I ask, confusedly._

_"That issss the cleansssse. We are healing, my Bell-a."_

_"Healing?" I ask, trying to remember what it is that I need to heal from._

_Memories crash through me and all of a sudden, everything is so clear. The colors are gone, but so is Edwaird._

I sit up with a cough, sputtering in a panic as I try to ask for Edwaird, but I can't speak. It feels as though there is fur growing in my mouth, and I move my tongue around in my mouth, attempting to clear out the feeling.

My chest beats quickly in my chest as I take in my surroundings and look around for Edwaird. I see that I'm back at the bedroom in my family's country home and over in the corner, Emmeet is slumped in a ball on the settee in the corner, sawing logs. I take a deep, cleansing breath. I must be alive, because I know for a fact, that my entire family wouldn't die if I died...would they?

I stand up from the bed and find my legs to be quite wobbly. I tip-toe over to Emmeet and touch him on the shoulder. He sits up quickly and looks over at the bed, finding me gone. I grip his shoulder tightly then, and he looks up at me as he flinches defensively. Emmeet jumps up from the settee quickly and grips me tightly, hugging me too him. He begins to whimper, and I have to stifle my giggle at the emotion he shows toward me. It must be the hormones.

When he pulls away, his face is streaked with tears, and he quickly pulls me toward the door. He moves quickly, and my feet feel like those belonging to a fawn newly born - uncertain and shaky. Emmeet wraps one of his muscular arms around my waist and pulls me down the back staircase into the kitchen where the rest of the family sits...along with Edwaird.

He drinks from a bowl that seems to hold some type of steaming fluid, and I simply watch him, relieved that he is okay. I touch Emmeet on the shoulder to get his attention, then put my finger to my lips, hoping that he understands that I just want to watch them before they realize I'm awake.

Emmeet keeps a hold of me, and we stand there together, watching the rest of the family. Esssme leans down close to Edwaird's face, speaking softly to him, but he shakes his head, looking sad and unsure. He finishes the rest of the bowl, and Esssme takes it from him, then turns to move back over to the pot. She looks up then and gasps, spotting Emmeet and me.

"Bell-a!" she exclaims, and everyone in the room turns to look over at me.

Edwaird jumps up from the table, sending utensils and cups scattering to the floor with some of them crashing and breaking. He runs over to me and scoops me up into his arms, carrying me over to the fireplace where he sits in the larger of the two chairs there. I hug him tightly to my chest, afraid that if I let go, this will all have been part of my dream, and I can't possibly bear that thought that that could actually happen.

After several moments I finally pull away and see that the rest of the family is crowded around us. Edwaird cups my face in both of his hands, placing his forehead against mine and sighing. He says nothing. Neither do I, because right now, there are no words.

No words to tell him how much I love him.

No words to tell him how scared I was that I would never see him again.

No words to explain what and who I am.

Everything hits me in the chest - the severity of all of this and how close I was to death. I think I may have actually died, but was brought back...again. Tears flood my eyes and spill over my lids and down my cheeks. Painful sobs escape my mouth, and Edwaird again pulls me tight against him. He sits there cradling me, rubbing soothing circles on my back until finally, he pulls me away once more to look me in the eyes.

Esssme immediately hands Edwaird a cup, and he holds it to my lips. I take a sip of it, then grab the cup out of Edwaird's hand and chug it. When it's gone I want more, and I hand it to Esssme to refill it.

"More, please," I rasp out. My voice is hoarse from disuse.

Esssme returns with the cup refilled, and I chug that too. When it is gone, I finally ask, "How long was I out?"

"Ssssavontaaainthh Moon," Esssme responds.

It takes me a second to figure out that I was in limbo for seventeen days. Seventeen fucking days of trying to make my way back here.

"Wow." It's all I can manage to squeak out. No wonder I feel so foggy and it's so hard to walk.

"Let ussss give Bell-a and Edwaird a proper reacquaintancccce period," Esssme says as she begins to usher the rest of the family toward the door.

"No!" I shout, startling them all. "Um, I mean. I want you to all stay, so I can tell you something."

Esssme looks at Jassspeer, and something transpires between them. What that is, I can't be sure. I let it go because I already have so much on my mind and so much to worry about. I am fearful of the way they are going to take my next piece of news. Will they shun me for who I am?

I open my mouth to speak, but a cough comes out instead. Edwaird tips another full glass to my lips, and I sip at it. My hand moves to my throat as I swallow the liquid down, and I realize, my necklace is gone.

"My necklace?" I ask, looking at Edwaird as I trace my fingers along my neckline. Edwaird jostles us a little in the chair, but extracts my necklace from some hidden pocket of his shirt. He gives Essssme a quick glance, then holds it up to clasp it at the base of my neck.

Once it is in place, I can't deny that I feel better, more whole somehow. For some reason, I know that it is just one more thing that confirms who I am.

Everyone finds seats near Edwaird and me, and within a few moments, Jassspeer returns, holding the hand of a very old, very blind woman with milky white eyes and long, gray, straggly hair. She closely resembles the woman in the Snow White fairy tale that offers up the shiny red apple without the horrendous nose. In the hand that Jassspeer does not hold, she grips a thick, spindly wooden cane. At the top of it appears to be a real eyeball, somehow preserved inside of a clear glass ball.

I look at Essssme in question, wondering who the old woman is.

"Bell-a. You musssst now tell the sssstory of what happened to you. We will then do our bessst to decccide why you were taken, and where we go from here. Introductionssss will be made after." Esssme announces.

I finger my necklace, mustering up any courage I can find to tell them what happened and who I am. I notice the old woman's gaze fixed upon me, even though I don't think she can hear me. I know they say that the blind use their ears to find people, but she almost seems to be staring at my throat, and I'm not making any noise there.

"Well, I guess I'll start by telling you that it was the Queen that had me taken, because I'm her daughter."

I dive into the story then, telling them every last little detail I can until there is nothing more to tell. I blacked out and now here I am, seventeen days later. By the time I finish, most of the jaws of my family members are on the floor, intrigued, amazed, and also appalled by what they put me through. Most of all, they are completely surprised by who I am.

I glance at Edwaird finally, having not once looked at him when I told him the story, afraid of the reaction I would see on his face. He is not looking at my face like I expect him to be, but he is looking at my neck.

I raise my hand back to figure out what he is staring at, drawing in a sudden breath when I feel them. "Oh my God," I whisper. Edwaird looks at me then and gives me the largest, most beautiful smile I've ever seen.

He looks at the old woman then, and asks, "What doesss it mean?"

I'm confused by his vague question toward her, but she simply walks over to us, now refusing the assistance of Jassspeer, and stops mere feet in front of us. She raises her cane first, then her other free hand comes up to cup my chin, and gently, she turns my face to the left.

In a very thick Sislan accent, the old woman says, "Furrrrrth." She then turns my face back to the front and moves her free hand from my chin, down to my throat and picking up the metal symbol of my necklace. She moves the cane so that it too, is in level with my neck and it almost seems as if she is using the eyeball atop her cane to actually see.

_Ssssshe isssss._

I hear Edwaird in my head, and I've completely forgotten our ability to communicate in this way.

_How?_ I mentally ask him back, suppressing a giggle that wants to erupt out of me of the sheer absurdity of all of this. I mean really, we only fantasized about this kind of shit on Earth.

The old woman gently places my necklace back against my skin, then raises the cane up so it is at eye-level with me. It makes me squirm a little, but I do my best to stare into it. I think this is what she wants and it appears that she is here to help us out in some way, so I am certainly not going to make it difficult on her.

The woman lowers her cane then and ambles back to the spot at the table where she had been sitting at earlier, next to Essssme. The room is quiet as we all wait for her to get comfortable and do whatever it is she does. What that is, I have no idea.

Esssme speaks first. "Bell-a, thisssss isss the Oracle. Sssshe wassss born unto Ssssissla without the usssse of her orbssss but knowing all the ssssame. Sssshe isss the foreteller, and you musssst lisssten to everything sssshe tellssss you, for the fate of Ssssissla liesss in her wordssss."

I swallow down the lump in my throat and focus on this small old woman, the Oracle.

"There wassss onccce a time of ssssimple living. There wasssss no King or Queen but, inssstead, an emperor. You may find that the title of emperor may ssssound atrocccioussss compared to king or queen, but it meant ssssomething elsssse entirely in that time. The emperor wasssss a man of reasssson. While there were thosssse that prosssspered more than otherssss, there wassss no Sssssislan that went without sssshelter or sssssussstenanccce."

"He wassss with high honor. The people of Ssssisla followed him with eagernessss and protected him at all cosssts. There wasssss never a need for protection, until there ssssuddenly wasssss. The Emperor and hissss mated female were forcccced to meet their final death, sssslain where they laid with ressssting orbsssss. There wasssss a man to take over the Emperor'sssss posssition immediately upon hisss final death. Not a sssoul quessstioned him, assss they all feared for their livessss without hisss protection."

"Under the reign of the new Emperor, life went on mosssstly assss it had under the lasssst, and the ssssoulsss of Ssssisla learned to trussst the new Emperor, that wassss, until he found himssself a mate."

"The Emperor'sssss mate wassss a beautiful woman, but that wasssss where possssitive attributessss ended. She wasssss colder than the Sssssigma Rangetip. The Emperor ssssuddenly died in the night, and sssshortly after, hisss mate adopted a new line of reign, requiring all to refer to her assss Queeen. Queeeen Sssssulpicccia."

The Oracle looks at me pointedly, then continues.

"Queeen Ssssulpicccia took the life forccce of her own mate sssso that sssshe would have complete control over Ssssisla. She bedded many malessss whenever sssshe chosssse, which inevitably, will be her downfall. Won't it, fair Bell-a?"

She gives me a wry smile as everyone in the room looks at me.

"The firsssst Emporer had a child, a sssson. He happened to be with hissss wet maid on the moon of hissss Unma and Fisssere's, or mother and father to you, final deaths. He wassss ssssaved and hidden, hissss name changed ssso that the Queen would never learn of hisss heritage."

"What was his name? His title?" I ask her.

"The title given to him under hissss Unma and Fisssere, wassss Cai-uuuuussss, but hissss wet maid called him Fffeeleex after it all changed. Cai-uuussss had to hide who he wassss, for he held many traitssss of the old Emperor, hisss Fisssere, and it wassss alwaysss a posssibility that the resssemblanccce would be noticccced. He made many changesss to hisss appearanccce asss disssguissse. He wassss a male of much allure, but in hissss need to hide, he made himssself ssslightly lesss pleasssing to the eye."

"It was the diminissshment of hisss looksss that drew him to the Queen. Ssshe did not want to keep her bed with sssomeone who thought them more attractive than her. Now, he knew of the sssstory, knew of what sssshe had done to hissss family and alssso, how important it wasss for her to keep her title, sssso he laid low for a while, doing what ssshe required until he wassss ready to move forward with hisss plan. He knew he would meet hisss final death of courssse, but he had nothing he wanted to remain in hisss life for."

"On the lassst night that he bedded Queen Sssulpicccia, he made mention of children. That wasss all it took for the passsage of the egg to transsspire. The Queen wassss furioussss, meant to end him, but ssshe did not know if he had made storiesss about her already and feared that ending hisss life would be disssastroussss. Sssshe let him live long enough to carry the child, then ended him."

She pauses, takes a sip of her drink, then looks at me.

"I know the rest. I've been told the rest." I look over at Edwaird, his eyes wide in amazement.

"Bell-a, the firssst Emperor wasss of the puressst blood we know. _The Purity._ Within you, you carry that blood. Like you, he too had the four gillsss of flain. There isss no other like you. The markssss you both carry abreassst isss a foretelling."

"Desssstined duo," Edwaird whispers. The Oracle looks over at him and nods.

"Yesss, young one. Now, there issss alsssso the matter of the piecccce," she says as she once again, brings her cane up to look at my neck. "Have you underssstanding of what it ssssignifiesss?"

I pick the metal up from my chest and twirl the chain around in my fingers, shaking my head. "No. I do not."

"That isss the Sssissooka, child. The Sssisssookah issss a tale of a deity that wasss both a creator, and a dessstroyer. It wassss believed to be nothing but a falsssehood, until now that issss. The Sssissookah hassss never chosssen a sssoul to bear it, but now, it hassss chosssen you."

"Is this bad?" I ask, tracing its design with my finger. It doesn't feel bad, not at all. If anything, it has been something to help me calm myself. "I mean, well, what does this mean?"

"It meanssss that the sssstory wasss not a tale at all, but a foretelling of your return to ussss. It meanssss that onccce again, there will be enlightenment for our home, and you will bring it."

With that, the little woman stands up and puts a hand on Esssme's shoulder. She then walks over to Jassspeer who escorts her out. Everyone in the room stares at me, and I feel a surge of nervousness course through me.

_The woman has _got_ to be on crack!_

_Crackkk?_ Edwaird questions me in my head, and I shake my head at him, as if saying 'never mind'.

We all sit in a stunned silence for a while, but finally, everyone begins to get up. As they do, they all come over and hug me, then raise my hand up to their faces and kiss the inside of my left wrist. This day couldn't get any weirder. Things like that shouldn't be thought though, because yes, yes they could.

Edwaird and I are the last to leave the large kitchen and he carries me back up to our room. I protest, saying that I can walk and I feel fine, but he isn't having it. When we are finally back in the room, he sets me on my feet, then wanders into the bathroom.

I decide that I need a shower because who knows how long ago I actually had one. I no longer have dried blood on me, so I must have been given a bath or at least a sponge bath at some point, but I feel grimy all over.

I follow Edwaird into the bathroom and lean over, turning the shower on. When he realizes I'm behind him, he turns around to face me, and the look in his eyes is enough to make my panties spontaneously dissolve.


	13. The Next Step

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 13 ~ The Next Step**

Bella's POV ~

I bite my lip and move around Edwaird to feel the water pouring out of the showerhead. I can feel his eyes on me as I move, and I swallow thickly, feeling my body respond to his proximity. I feel the tension and want this like it's our first time all over again. I wonder if that since I pretty much died...again, it is like our first time all over again. Whether it is or not, I can't deny how much I want him. I no longer wonder if he feels the same way, I know he does. I can feel it in my blood, like his body wants to pull me into him, absorb me, be me.

We are already one.

I pick up a hair brush and begin to pull it through my matted nest of hair. There are too many tangles - dead planet debris, blood, and everything else ensure that the brush only serves as a hindrance. I set it back down, and Edwaird has not uttered a single word, but I feel his eyes once again, measuring each of my moves, calculating my health against his need to once again make me his.

This makes me smile, and there is no time for games. I want him too, need him.

I stick my hand under the water, testing its temperature against my skin. I look at Edwaird, biting my lip to tease him, and begin to undress. He simply watches me with hunger in his eyes; I step under the spray.

He doesn't immediately follow me so I begin to wash my hair. It takes me a while considering all of the tangles I have to get through, and when I finally finish, there is a mess of particles and red tinged water cluttering the drain and flowing down into it.

Edwaird finally steps in behind me, and I want to sing "Hallelujah! Now fuck me!" but I refrain.

I grab the wash cloth-style rag and swipe the soap across it, lathering it, then raise it to my neck and gently begin to wash over the tender, newly exposed holes behind my ears. I hear a low rumble behind me, and a hand reaches up, taking the cloth from me. Edwaird moves my hair to hang over my shoulder and begins to softly rub the cloth against the skin near my ear. He makes small circular movements, working gently to get the dried blood off of me. I thought most of it would have come off when I washed my hair but apparently not. When he is satisfied with one side, he moves to the other side and repeats the motions.

Before I notice it, he is sliding the cloth down my back and swoops his hand around to the front of me. He runs it across my hips, then up my torso. He grazes my breasts, and I gasp, grinding my ass against him. The arm not holding the cloth wraps around my middle, and he pulls me closer to him. All of a sudden, I couldn't give a fuck whether or not I'm clean.

His tongue begins to make a trail across my shoulder and in towards my neck. He kisses the skin at the base, and I shiver when I feel him nibble ever so slightly. What he does next is what ruins me completely. Every pleasant sensation I have ever felt in my entire life lights my body on fire, and then, there are other sensations, the ones I can't quite put a name to.

I hear Edwaird's intake of air, and he gently blows it across _my_ flain. I feel them constrict with pleasure, then widen back up as my eyes grow wide. Everything in my body would scream if it could. I swear I can feel every cell in my body pulse, and I heat up everywhere. It's not the water, because that is actually beginning to grow slightly cold.

Edwaird drops the cloth to the floor of the bath, and it makes a wet "clop" sound as it hits. He moves his free hand up, then grazes across my nipple, causing me to moan loudly, unable to contain it a moment longer. He blows across my flain once again and something happens. As a "human" I would have been mildly turned on, but as this "alien" that I am, the air that passes over my flain and lightly touches the shell of my ear, new sensations, sounds, tastes and scents hit me. It's so much more… everything, making me feel as though I may just float right up off of the floor and into the air.

In my head, I hear this voice that sounds like my voice, but in several different octaves at once. There is a moan, and it's like this exquisite moan of ecstasy, enlightenment.

Edwaird wildly spins me around to face him and stares into my eyes, his own eyes wide and searching into mine for something. I look back into his, then ask mentally, _what is it?_

He simply says, "Issss true," then attacks my mouth like it is the last kiss we will ever share. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me, and kiss him back with equal force.

Our tongues twine together, needing to be closer to each other. Tiny pants escape our mouths and trade bodies as we continue to mate with only our tongues. Our teeth click, and when I think I'm about to pass out, I finally pull away. He twists us both around so that I am closest to the wall and moves us closer to it. My back touches it, and he lifts me up by my ass. My legs wrap around his waist, and I can feel him right at my entrance but not yet inside. He pushes against me, kissing down my neck and across my collar bones. My hands go into his hair, doing whatever I can to hold on tightly to some part of him, any part of him, so I don't float away in this amazing feeling.

"Uh, Edwaird. You are my love; you are me. I need you. Please, I need you," I beg.

He kisses back up my neck, and when he gets to my ear, he whispers, "And I am you," then plunges into me, sinking hilt-deep.

I scream out in pleasure, unable to hold it in and hide our intimacy from the rest of our family. I only pray they are occupied enough to not hear or notice my sounds.

I move my arms underneath of Edwairds, sliding them under his armpits so that I can grip onto his shoulders from behind and give myself any kind of leverage to move with him. He moves slowly inside of me, his cock sliding against my sensitive insides and eliciting more moans and cries from me. This is sex like I've never known, never could have known before, and I know it is because of the holes that have been uncovered behind my ears. I feel sorry for humans now.

Edwaird begins to pump into me steadily, and my fingernails dig into the taut flesh of his shoulder. He hisses and pushes into me even harder. The tightness in my belly pulls closer together, and I feel myself getting closer to the edge.

"Oh! Ung. I'm going to... Edwaird. I'm going to...ung...come."

I pull on his shoulders so hard that my arms tremble, and he pounds into me hard, my back up against the cool wall behind me. I suddenly come undone, quivering, whimpering, with my muscles clenching and unclenching around him. He comes shortly after me, and we stand frozen for several moments, trying to catch our ragged breaths.

Edwaird lowers us to the bottom of the tub, then reaches behind him to turn off the now cold water. When he turns back around, there is a look of sadness in his eyes that nearly breaks me in two.

"I thought I'd lossst you. Never be away from me again, my Bell-a. Ssssay it. Pleasssse," he pleads.

I gently grab his face and tip it towards mine. Our noses touch, and his eyes close. I kiss his nose first, then each eye, and his forehead before moving over to his ear. "I will never leave you. I am always with you. We will always be."

His arms around me tighten, and we sit like this for a while. Soon we both grow too cold to stay put, so Edwaird stands us up. He steps out of the tub first, then lifts me up and out after, wrapping a rough towel around me.

When we are both dried, combed and dressed, Edwaird runs down to the kitchen to grab some food for both of us. I can't deny how completely starved I feel, as though I could eat all day long, but I suppose not having food for who knows how many days and pretty much dying will do that to a girl.

As I wait for him, I sit in the window seat, looking at the land beyond me. My land, my home. This is my home now, but not only is it my home now, it was my home before. It doesn't seem possible that the life I lived on Earth really wasn't meant to be, doesn't seem like my loving parents could have held that truth from me for my entire life and would have held it to their graves. I think about who I am, and how absurd it feels. I feel like me, the same Bella I have always been, except now I have funky ear holes like everyone else here. Oh, except I have four, and there has apparently only ever been one other to have had four flain holes..._her._ And by her, I don't mean my bitch of a biological mother - no - I mean the woman for whom the necklace I wear was named after.

Sssisssooka. The Oracle, as Edwaird called her, said that Sssissooka was both a creator and a destroyer. I'm not sure about the destroyer part, and, well, I'm not so sure about the creator part either. I've always been a bit squeamish around children in general. What worries me the most is that they think that I am the reincarnate of this woman. I don't even know how this is possible, as, I've never been an overly religious person and haven't really thought much about the possibility of reincarnation, but this takes it to a whole new level. This means that I'm somebody, really _somebody_, and that notion freaks me the fuck out, because what if I'm really not? What if it's a fluke, and I seriously fuck these people over on accident?

Anxiety flutters in my belly, leaving me feeling slightly nauseous just as Edwaird walks through the door carrying a tray. I want to start spouting off movie lines, but I refrain, knowing the blank look I'll get from Edwaird for it.

Edwaird pulls a table over to the window and sets the tray down on it. There is an assortment of foods that I am beginning to now recognize, and I reach for the one that tasted kind of like honeydew melon the last time. I have to do something with my hands to keep them busy and stuff something in my mouth so I don't start bombarding him with millions of questions.

We sit silently for a few moments, eating the food before us and watching each other. I don't know where to start, so I tell him so.

"I don't know what to do, Edwaird. What does all of this mean? What do we do from here?" My eyes plead with his, begging him to know exactly what we need to do.

Edwaird wipes his hand on a small towel then takes both of my hands in his. He doesn't say anything right away, just looking at me, and I feel slightly calmer just from his touch.

I sigh and look away from him out the window. "That evil bitch of a Queen is my mother. My _mother,_ Edwaird. What does that say about me? What does it say about the horrible blood that belongs to her and runs through my veins? It means that I could be equally as horrible as her? You have to tell me everything. You have to tell me the things she has done!" My voice begins to rise in my fear of being anything like her.

Edwaird gently grabs my chin and turns me to face him once again. "You are only of her blood, my Bell-a, nothing more. You are magnificccent, and gentle. Sssshe issss not. Sssshe murderssss, and takesss from thossse that already have nothing. Sssshe issss not loved, but feared by all, for thossse that hold an opinion to her are desssstroyed. You musssst ssssee! You could never be that!"

I think about his words, feel the force of them move through me. I nod my head at him. "You must promise me that you will never let me be like her. Ever! No matter what!" Unexpectedly, tears begin to pool in my eyes and slip down my cheeks. Edwaird shooshs me and wipes the tears away with his long fingers.

He pulls my head to his chest and begins to rock us back and forth, and it immediately begins to calm me again. We stay like that for a long time. At some point, he quits rocking us, and we sit still with my head leaned into him. I feel a sharp pain move through my back from sitting bent over at an odd angle for such a long time, but the pain brings clarity, and the clarity brings me to a decision.

I sit up quickly, snapping to attention, and he stares at me in question. "We can't let her do this anymore. She can't keep doing this to people. She is evil. We have to get rid of her, Edwaird."

oOo

After a bit more discussion, we have everyone congregated in the kitchen - which seems to be my favorite place in the house - and tell them we need to have a discussion. A serious discussion. Edwaird tells them that I have come to a decision, and I feel all eyes fall on me.

I take a deep breath, then tell them what I told Edwaird up in our bedroom. That we have to get rid of the Queen. I don't necessarily mean we have to kill her, but we have to get rid of her. She needs to be dropped somewhere into a deep abyss or a random planet that she blew up and be left to fend for herself against the elements. I don't know, but she just can't be left to rule Sssisla the way she has been.

Conversation erupts around us then, and it doesn't take us long to figure out that we are going to have to go into the city to start our planning. We have to plan a revolt, and we will need a lot of people to do that. We are also going to have to talk The Oracle into going to the city with us, and as Essssme says, this won't be an easy task.

"Why is that, Essssme?" I ask.

Essssme walks over to me, and Edwaird scoots away from me a little, making room for his mother to sit in between us.

"The Oracle issss a very old woman. Ssssshe hasss chosssen to live her life amidssst the foressst. Ssshe was married onccce, and had a family, but the Queen wasss unhappy with a foretelling The Oracle onccce gave her, and ssso the Queen killed her mate, and her family. The Oracle fled the cccity and ssssaid sssshe would never return, never get clossse to the Queen again, and sssshe never hasss. It will be hard to assssk her to do thisss for ussss."

I feel tears prick my eyes again at this new piece of information. It's no wonder The Oracle "looked" at me the way she did. Her face had been quite stony when she first spoke to me. I feel the disgust for my mo...ugh, I can't even think it. That woman, I hate her, and I hate what she has done to so many people. I gain even more resolve in that moment.

"Essssme? Will you allow for me to ask The Oracle to do this for us? I feel that I owe her something, even if no one else thinks so, I'd like to speak to her, and to apologize."

Essssme reaches over and grips my hand in hers, and with tears in her eyes, she nods at me.

She stands and returns to the table, sitting next to Carlissss. For the next few hours, we make plans. Plans upon plans upon plans. Many of our plans exclude Emmeet. He is thoroughly grumpy about this, but it's too dangerous for him and the baby to partake in any of the real action. He is satisfied knowing that in the end, it will be him that flies the ship with the Queen on it to dispose of her to wherever we decide.

Over the next four days, we write letters to people, disguised as invitations to a mating ceremony celebration for Edwaird and myself. In truth, the letters ask some of the Cul-len Tribe's closest friends and acquaintances to meet at their city home on specific dates and at specific times that move around the schedules of the Queen and her guard. We make sure that their patrol near the city house's area does not coincide with any of our meeting times. This takes some time to arrange, as we have to gain access to their schedules, but my family knows many people - many people that do not hold the Queen in high regard.

On the fifth day, all of our planning is mostly done, but now we have to figure out where it is we will send the Queen. It would have been great to have been able to send her to Kasswhahk to both spit on her for Jasspeer's and my own sake, but in her attempt to be rid of me, she blew the last remnant of the planet to tiny space debris.

We search the maps and satellites for hours until finally, Jassspeer points out a small planet with next to nothing for water, and therefore, probably not much for food either. There is some, and of course, enough to take care of the Queen and her minions for a few years, but probably not much longer than that. I can almost mentally see them killing each other off for the last cup of water, the last tree that bears edible fruit. She deserves it, she deserves to be tortured and possibly killed by one of her own.

Twenty or so minutes later we are heading back to the house. The moons are high in the sky, and it is getting on towards very late at night. We will go to The Oracle tomorrow and beg her to go with us. Whatever it takes, she must go, for there is a chance that people will not believe what we tell them without her.

We all relax in front of the fire in the kitchen, sipping on some type of warmed up liquor. It burns as it goes down my throat but leaves me feeling very euphoric. By the time I finish my first cup, I am beginning to feel very tipsy and seeing swirling patterns in my vision. When I start trying to grab at them, Edwaird decides I've had enough and carries me upstairs.

oOo

In the morning, I feel refreshed after sleeping in long after the sun has risen. When I finally make my way down to the kitchen, it is bustling with movement. There are several faces that I don't recognize, and I move over to the fireplace where Essssme sits with Roe-salie, discussing something and pointing at pieces of paper. I rest my hand on Essssme's shoulder, and she jumps slightly, then looks up at me and smiles.

She slides over, and I sit beside her. "What are you looking at and who are all these people?" I ask her, gesturing to the extra bodies in the room.

"No-madsss," Roe-salie answers. She looks around the room, then back at me. "They know of our planssss. They will not take part in the battle, but they will help usss to prepare for it. They over anyone elsssse understand what it meanssss to be rid of the Queen. Ssshe hasss damaged them all in some way."

Some of them look over at us, and as I catch some of their eyes, they dip their head at me, lowering their eyes to the floor, then resume their work.

I look at Essssme who is watching me.

"They consssider you to be their lasssst hope. You are the Sssissook Princessss, bringer of Enlightenment, Bell-a." Esssme watches me closely as she says the last part, and I swallow thickly, then nod back at her like I am accepting this. I have to accept this responsibility, this title, for them. For all of them, whether they are my family or complete strangers, because I am their last chance. If someone doesn't step up and stand up to her, she will continue to abuse her power over these innocent people for hundreds of more years.

Later in the day, I head out of the house on foot along with Esssssme. Roe-salie is supposed to come with us, but Emmeet is having an overly emotional day so she decides she'd better stay back with him. Ah-lisss is busy preparing the ship with everything that we will need for our meetings with the people in the city, so it is just Esssme and I. We walk close together for quite some time, heading for the tree line of the forest that leads to the bunker.

Instead of heading in the direction that we usually take to the bunker, we head around the other side of the hill, and once we are at the back of it, I see it. There is a tiny little cabin that looks a lot like a log cabin on Earth. There is even a stone chimney that pours smoke into the air. I feel Essssme's eyes on me then, and I swallow down a lump in my throat, because she could easily say no to me, but I have to have faith in her and faith in myself.

I square my shoulders and grab onto Essssme's hand. I see her smile out of the corner of my eye as we set off, and I simply squeeze her hand in acknowledgement. She is proud of me, and my love for her grows in that simple expression.

We walk the rest of the way to the one room size cabin, and Esssme leads. Now, you would think that she would knock on the door or something, but she doesn't, we simply stand there quietly as if The Oracle will hear our silent feet upon her little porch.

The funny thing is...is that she does. After only standing there for a few moments, I hear the shuffling of her feet and the taps her cane makes against the floor as she crosses it. The door opens slowly, and the eyeball cane is the first thing we see.

The Oracle wastes no time, and I should know better that she knows what we want - what I want, but I'm still caught of guard when she says, "There isssss no other choiccccce. It mussst be done. I will go with you."

I expect an argument, to have to plead with her, but I don't. Instead, she invites us in for some kind of tea and instead asks me to relay my plans to her. So for the next couple of hours or so, I voice my plans - our plans, to The Oracle. When I finish, she looks to her fireplace, just her face and not the cane, cocks her head to the side and says nothing.

After a few moments of fidgety silence - on my part, she speaks. "The third risssse of the Ssssun from thissss day we will depart. There issss much work to do - a battle to prepare for. Are you ready, young princess?"

I nod my head although she can't see me, and not much later, we rise and head back toward home. Her words pulse in my ears, weigh on my conscience. A battle to prepare for. I know that this won't be an easy task and that the Queen will not just willingly leave. She for all intents and purposes, thinks she has the upper hand. We will allow her to think that for the moment, but we have been quick responses, wedding RSVP's so to speak, and we know that our numbers are growing. The people are tired of being scared of the wretched woman whom has ruled over them for so long. I only hope that once they know that I am of her blood and hear of our plan, they will still want to help, because The Oracle has not confirmed it for us.

Blood will be shed.

Lives will be lost.


	14. Worship The Bean

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 14 - Worship the Bean**

**Glossary:**

furth – four

Bella's POV ~

True to word, two days later, my family and I, with The Oracle in tow, are on our way into the city by way of our small pod. Emmeet flies us lower to street level than up in the sky so that we won't be easily spotted by any of the Queen's Guard. The Oracle sits between Essssme and myself and as we near the outer city limits, her open hand begins to shake. I do the only thing I know to do to help calm her, I take her hand between my two and hold it.

She makes a little grunting noise, but does not pull away. She reminds me of my Nana: feisty and steadfast, yet gentle. Ever so gentle.

We don't fly up to the city house, instead, Emmeet parks the pod a ways off from it so that we can transfer to an odd looking vehicle that one of their friends is driving. We quickly unload the possessions we brought with us that we will need for the battle and to get Sssislans on our side, then all get in the vehicle.

The man that drives us, Demeetihr, is a hulk of a man and I'm thankful that he is on our side. He takes bumpy roads and we drive for about ten minutes, then pull up to a small garage-looking building. As discreetly as possible, we all flee the vehicle and rush into a side door that Demeetihr holds open for us. The Oracle is still clinging to me and I move slowly, helping her move as quickly as we can. With one arm wrapped around her waist and the other holding onto her bony hand, we hobble along as she maintains a death grip on her cane with her free hand. Everyone else carries our meager supplies that we've brought from the country home.

Very quickly, we are all congregated in the small building, and it appears to be exactly as it looked on the outside, but I am so wrong. Carlisss walks over to the far northern wall and opens up what looks like an electrical box panel. He opens the cover via an eye scan and there are several buttons with lights behind it. He drags his finger across one of the buttons much like I would on my phone to unlock it, and in the middle of the room, a panel slides open in the floor. A set of stairs unfolds before my eyes and everyone begins to descend. I wait along with The Oracle until everyone else has gone because it will take us a bit longer. Both Emmeet and Carlisss have tried to take her hands from me several times, but she wants nothing to do with them - she is glued to me. When Carlisss attempted to help her earlier, she slapped his hands away. Carlisss simply laughed and walked away.

When we are all at the bottom of the stairs, I see that there is a long corridor that is lit with more red lights similar to the ones on the large ship. We all begin to move toward an end that I cannot see, since The Oracle and I are at the tail of the group, taking our time. We move slowly and from the corner of my eye, I can see her look at me quizzically several times. I finally stop us and turn to her.

"Is something wrong?" I ask.

Without using her eyeball cane, she looks at me, then raises her hand up to my face and cups my cheek with it. Her eyes begin to glisten with tears and she quickly looks away from me.

The Oracle pulls on my arm, moving us forward again, and we begin to walk. After a minute, she suddenly speaks, "It issssss mosssst difficulllt for me to be here in thisssss placce again, young Princesssss. My family met their final deathsss in the mosssst gruessssome of wayssss and it wassss my fault. My fault that the Queen oppossssed the newsssss I gave to her. Do you know what that newwssss wassss?"

I shake my head no, unable to open my mouth and speak the word.

"I foretold her ending reign, and the possssibility of her final death. We are leading up to it now, but it issss not in the way that I thought. Thingssss will be different, ssssimply becaussssse it issss your decissssion to make. I know the outcome of both of your choicessss, but I cannot interfere. Thissss isss your path. There will be consequencessss to both ssssides and only you are able to make the final deccccisssssion."

She stops us again, and this time, she _does_ bring her cane up to look me in the eye. I can feel it in the creepy eye atop the cane that it is trying to see into me, trying to make _me_ see that I need to not only listen to what she is going to tell me next, but to also feel it, to _know_ it and _grasp_ it.

"I am mossssst ssssorrowful, my Sssisssssook Princessss. Livessss will be losssst."

With that, she lets go of my hand and begins to walk ahead of me, and without my aid. I'm left standing here alone and dumbfounded for a couple of minutes, my mind swirling in thought and trying to decipher her meaning. Lives will be lost, which, with this kind of a battle, I can only assume, but she wouldn't say that to me unless lives of those close to me are going to be lost.

Panic and bile gurgle in my throat and instantly, Edwaird is at my side, gripping me close to him.

"What issss wrong, my Bell-a?"

Unable to look in his eyes and lie to him, I look to the floor and shake my head. He moves us forward once again.

oOo

After two days in the city, we've held several meetings with first, close friends of my family, and then after the word spread, many people who simply want to see the Queen gone. The first meeting is chaotic and stressful. Many of the Sislans are skeptical of me, disbelieving of who I am and the bloodline that flows through me, but with The Oracle standing at my side, no one doubts me again.

The Oracle tells them that I am the key to their happiness, their children's happiness, and all of the future generations beyond that. Everyone listens to her, riveted and afraid to miss a word. Many of them have never met The Oracle, only heard of her and some even believing her to be a myth. They believe that no more.

When she is done speaking, we let the people ask questions, and boy, are there questions. People want to know if they can fight, if they can _not_ fight, if there will be deaths, and will we kill the Queen. Chaos breaks out in the room when the question is asked. You can tell that the people are nervous about anarchy and even more nervous that the Queen may have a nark in the room. Esssme steps forward at this point and calms the room down. She assures everyone in attendance that they are all safe from each other, and that only trusted friends have been invited to the first meeting.

People continue to talk while in the back of the room, Roe-salie and I begin to formulate a plan. I find it odd that the men do not make any decisions in what we plan, but they do however, inform us of strategy ideas. Jasssspeer is especially helpful in this aspect, as before his home planet had been blown up and before he had met Ah-lissss, he had been his home planet's top war coordinator. He says it was different coming to Sisla at first, because the males took such a back seat in war, but it was a welcome change for him after everything he had gone through.

The people stay and talk for hours. Roe-salie divulges the main parts of our plan to them and they begin to pipe in their ideas, mostly women, but some men, too. I find it funny, but at the same time, so incredibly weird.

The ideas they offer are very good ones. There are some odd ones too, but overall, helpful, and the scene of the fight begins to develop and play out in my mind.

At the end of the meeting Essssme stands and motions for me to go to her, and I do.

"Would any ssssoul assssk a quesssstion to your future Queen?" Esssme asks.

I'm taken aback by her words, never once thinking about the outcome of the fight and what it would mean for me - at least, not in that way. At the thought, a lump of anxiety takes up residence in my throat. I'm positive that if someone had asks me a question, I won't be able to answer it.

Somehow, nobody asks me anything. The rest of the meeting passes by me in a haze as I plan strategy and worry about how I'm going to do this. Before I'm aware of it, the room has cleared out and I'm yawning as Edwaird pulls me from the small room that is connected to the city house by the underground tunnel we had taken to get here just days ago.

On the way back up to the house, Essssme slows down to walk with Edwaird and me.

"Bell-a, I have informed all sssoulsss that recccceived the telegram we ssssent to desssstroy them. Sssshould the Queeen ssssomehow get her clawssss on one, sssshe would not only sssee our plansss, but alssso sssee that you did not meet your final death assss sssshe deemed."

"Good thinking, and thank you, Esssme."

She nods at me, touches me on the cheek, then catches back up to Carlisss.

Edwaird wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him, and we continue on our path toward the house in silence.

oOo

At the end of the week, we have a following -like a huge following and so much support. Our preparations are no longer words and thoughts, but are now actions that are beginning to be carried out. Weapons are secretly being forged, and from what I understand, there will be a special weapon for me alone. I don't exactly understand why, but The Oracle requested - no - ordered it. If she says I should carry it, then I trust her.

I've been watching Emmeet. He has grown in size in the short week we've been here and he paces around almost constantly. I worry that he is coming close to the end of his term _internal giggle_ and wonder what that will mean for our upcoming fight. I hope that he can hold out long enough to ditch the Queen somewhere where she will never be seen or heard from ever again.

I seek him out, finding him in the kitchen, to see how he is feeling.

His back is to me, with his head stuck in the refrigeration compartment as he searches for something. I lightly touch him on the shoulder, hoping not to startle him.

He jolts a little and a small squeak comes out of him. I should have waited for him to extract himself from the fridge before I announced my presence.

"Oh. Bell-a! I am mosssst ssssurprisssed at your pressssenccce. Poachissss?" He asks, waving what looks like a pickle, except yellow in color, in my face. I smile and pluck the food from his fingers and he turns back to get another for himself.

"Thank you, Emmeet. I came to inquire of your health, and of the baby's." I tell him after he's turned back around. I point at his little, errr, large, fanny pack baby holder-slash-out of body womb in explanation.

I have to try my hardest not to giggle. I haven't had many conversations with Emmeet and have not had many discussions about his pregnancy, but now that it is a conversation on the tip of my tongue, my brain begins coming up with ridiculous jokes and innuendos and I cannot stop myself from wondering what his delivery is going to be like.

"The cccchild growssss large. My body ssssuffersss, but it issss mossst worth it," he answers, then takes a huge bite out of his pickle, I mean "poachisss."

"So. Um, can you tell me how it happens? When the baby is born, what will happen? Or is that too personal for me to ask? Too private?" Ugh, word vomit. Somebody stop me.

"At the time of life emergencccce, it will begin to dry up..." he says, pointing to his baby pack, "thisss will causssse disssstressss to my sssshell, and I musssst ssstay in a relaxation sssstate at that time. Roe-ssssalie musssst cut the child out of me, _cue vomiting_, at the right moment. When that occurssss, the carrier," he points at his bump again, "it will totally dry, sssshrink, then fall off," he explains.

"Okay, so, this is kind of personal, but who feeds it? And how?" He sees the confusion on my face and smiles at me.

What he tells me next makes me turn green, and I may even throw up a little bit _swallow, Bella_:

"The carrier ssshrivels. It issss called 'the bean' and weighsss very little. Roe-sssalie will immediately crussssh it to fine powder, then conssssume it. Thissss will allow her to bear susssstenance for our ccchild."

Oh, sweet angels in heaven; please don't let me puke all over the place. I take several deep breaths.

_Wait!_

Oh.

Kidney beans.

Huh.

Okay, so that's pretty cool that they use the symbology to kind of worship the..ugh...that's so nasty, but yeah. Worship the bean.

I giggle and Emmeet looks at me quizzically.

"Worship the bean," I say, pointing at one of the bar chairs that has a back shaped like a kidney bean.

He looks at it, then back to me. A laugh erupts from him then, but, because this place is so different and Emmeet is pregnant, it is a laugh that I would expect out of a teenage girl going through puberty. Emmeet laughs so hard that he pees himself a little, and I know this, because he abruptly stops laughing and looks down. He sighs, then forlornly says, "pipee." It's like somebody killed his dog.

He wanders out of the kitchen, probably to pee and change his pants, and I chuckle as I walk off to find Esssme.

oOo

"The preparationsssss to confront the Queen are mosssstly complete, Bell-a. On the nexxxxt risssse of the ssssun, your training will begin. There issss not much time for you to train, assss the Queen'sss health will begin to deteriorate, and sssshe will undersssstand that sssomething issss amisssss. Training will lasssst **furth** sunnsssss long. You will require much resssst and nutrient intake."

I nod, "I understand that. But, Esssme? Do you think I'm going to do okay? I mean, I've never used a weapon. I don't know how to fight, and, well, what if the Queen kills me, or has someone else kill me?"

I gnaw on my lip in nervousness as I watch her walk around the strategy room in the city home, pulling up images of the Queen's ominous castle and pinpointing entry and exit points. She makes notes on a glass computer screen that she holds on her arm but she stops and looks at me. She sets the handheld device down and walks over to me, standing in front of me and looking in my eyes.

She cups one side of my face in her and, and says, "Bell-a, my daugh-ter. I have mosssst faith that you will remain out of harm. Do not fear, for we will protect you...and Edwaird. The time hasssss come for her end...and your beginning." She leans in and kisses me on the forehead, then goes back to the screens.

I watch her for a few moments then leave the room. Her mention of protecting not only me, but Edwaird, too, really makes me worried, because if he needs protecting, that means she believes he will be pinpointed in being killed in all of this. That cannot happen. _Ever_.

The rest of the family is gone for the day. They all have separate errands to run as we prepare for the fight. Edwaird has stayed behind, wanting to spend time with me, and I go in search of him, needing to feel his touch now more then ever as we get closer to the big day. I find him reading a book in what I'd consider their library. He sits in the window seat and when I walk in, he immediately looks up from his book.

"You have concccccern within you. I feel it, my Bell-a. What issss it that worriessss you?" he asks, standing and meeting me halfway into the room. I possessively wrap my arms around his waist and bury my face in his chest. Unable to stifle the emotions that flow through me, tears flood my eyes and slide down my cheeks.

Edwaird holds me close to him, tightly, and just lets me cry. I open my mind and throw out my thoughts mentally to him.

_Nothing can happen to you. If something did, I would die, Edwaird. You can't fight! I can't lose you!_

"Aghizzzzzzzzz, my Bell-a." His arms wrap tighter around my shoulders.

_Nothing will happen to me. Our family will protect usss both, Bell-a. You can be ssssure of that. Calm, my Bell-a._

He holds me, and we sway to our own silent symphony. After a while, I calm a little, but still feel terrible nervousness. We walk back to our bedroom and I take a shower while he goes to the kitchen to find something for us to eat. I don't know what it is, but I am suddenly ravenous, like my body knows it needs to prepare itself for something huge. I could seriously eat the fucking Soom right now and even _I _know how disgusting that sounds.

Edwaird is already back in our room by the time I emerge from the shower. When I exit with a towel on my head and my robe wrapped around me, there is a plate of food awaiting me. The only reason he has put the food on a tray is because there is too much for him to actually carry. It's like he read my mind...he probably did.

There is something to be said about sex on a bed. While all of the other places we've had sex have been fun -a lot of fun- I still love bed sex. I love it most, because it's soft, and he's so hard, and I love his hardness pushing me into the softness...which is exactly what happens.

I love this man. I love him so much that my heart and mind can't really fathom it. I eat enough to sate my appetite, and then my appetite takes on a new shape. The shape in the form of Edwaird, and sex, and an orgasm that will make me scream. It's a good thing they make the walls extra thick here.

Edwaird and I lie next to each other; he lazily draws circles on the flesh of my stomach, having pushed my robe open. The towel is gone from my head, but my hair is still wet and splayed across the bed. I trace the shell of Edwaird's ear and he makes a noise close to a purr. It makes me think back to the first time that I saw my new family, and the sounds that came out of Essssme and Carlisss when we first saw him standing naked after they saved me. They took off down the hall and there was lots of ear touching.

I totally get it now.

Before my flain were uncovered, I'd always had a slight turn on from earplay, but now it's ridiculous. There has to be earplay now for me to get off. These little holes sense shit! They pick up more than your mind can fathom and being that I have four instead of three, Jassspeer has told me he thinks that I am even more sensitive to sight, sound, touch, everything.

Edwaird's fingers are replaced by his tongue and I decide to forget about all of the scientific bullshit for now. This may be our last chance to be together before our fight and I need to make the most of every moment before I start training tomorrow. I'll need to get extra sleep so that I can be ready to go early in the morning.

Edwaird's tongue leaves my belly, and with my eyes closed, I don't see where he goes next, until I feel it. All thought flies out the window and I just feel. I feel his tongue lick up the outer part of my ear, feel his warm breath fan across my flain, feel his fingers thread into my hair. I pull him closer, closer, until he is on top of me and his mouth moves to mine. He kisses around my mouth, teasing me, then finally, his lips touch mine. He is gentle, but I don't want gentle. I want him to consume me.

I deepen the kiss and grind my hips up toward his. He gets the point and kisses me harder. Our teeth clink together and he moves his mouth down my neck, then sits up to move the robe the rest of the way off of me. He kisses and licks across my collarbone and I squirm below him, seeking friction. His mouth latches onto my nipple and I whimper, wanting and needing more of him. He sucks on it while his fingers lightly pinch the other one. He moves down, his hands framing my rib cage and his mouth licking in the curve of my stomach. He finds my jutted hipbones and licks at them. Torturous, because I want his mouth elsewhere.

He lightly drags his nose across my pubic bone, looking up in my eyes. I know what he sees. He sees want and need and the hope of ecstasy in my eyes that I know I'm going to get. He kisses the small patch of hair there and my head falls back.

His fingers lightly graze my entry, and I feel warm air blow across the part of me that aches for him. He slowly pushes his fingers into me and a low moan escapes me. But I want more, and he seems to as well, because his mouth is on me within seconds and I nearly scream at the pleasure. He doesn't have to work me, licking and lightly nibbling on me until I fall over the edge. While I'm still riding the momentous waves, he enters me hard and I scream in pleasure. He pulls me to him a little and I wrap my legs around his middle while my back is still on the bed.

He moves in me slowly, and his length seems to be the hardest it's ever been inside of me. My body feels so feverish. He makes me feel this way, and I can't get enough of it. With a slowness that could be considered torture, he slides in and out, then in and out, and I want him to pound me fast and hard. But still, this is better, because I know that I will feel this from my head to my toes, out through my fingertips, and past that, if possible.

Edwaird lowers himself to me and our mouths crash together hungrily. Our tongues mingle, fight for dominance, then recede to a passionate kiss. He begins to move in me faster and the warmth down below begins to build in me once again. I feel sweat beginning to bead up on my upper lip and see that it is forming on Edwaird's forehead, as well.

Edwaird starts to push into me harder and faster, but then I push him off me and turn over onto my belly. I stick my ass up into the hair and he plunges into me. I feel him so much deeper this way and he wraps one arm around me as he fingers my clit while he fucks me from behind. This is So. Much. More.

My vision starts to tunnel out and all of a sudden, I see a burst of stars as I tip over the edge. Edwaird pumps several more times into me, very quickly and he grunts loudly as he comes, then collapses on top of me.

Neither of us are able to move or speak for several minutes, but finally, I move out from underneath him and cuddle into his side. He peppers my face and forehead with little kisses and I sigh happily. I want to stay right here, like this, forever.

I know that can't happen, at least, not until I take care of my biological_mother._ I hate that I share the same genes, same blood as her, but at the same time, I wouldn't ever take it back. This is who I am, who I'm becoming, and I would never give Edwaird back. So, while it sucks that she can't at least be nice, I understand that this is the path that was destined for me.

Destiny. Kismet. Fate.

I take it all, as long as I still have Edwaird in the end.

With that last thought, I turn to Edwaird and kiss his smooth lips, then let darkness of needed sleep take me.

Tomorrow will come too soon.


	15. Beeotch Goin' Down

In The Deepest Space

**Chapter 15 - Beeotch Goin' Down**

Bella's POV

My legs are shaking beneath me. I don't know how I can possibly go on, can possibly lift this heavy wooden-ish training dagger one more time. I've been going hard at it for three days, and where I was absolutely scared and completely skill-less when it came to defending myself, I can't say that anymore.

And yeah, I'm proud of myself for that.

Training started three days ago. I have to be honest and say that I thought I was in pretty good shape. I've always been on the skinnier side more then the heavy, and I've maintained my weight throughout my adult life by going to the gym. Obviously I haven't gone to the gym since I've been here, but it hasn't been that long. Long enough I guess, because my muscles ache. No, my muscles freaking hate my guts, but at the same time, I feel really fucking good.

My instructor, Khonkha-ahh, calls break and I pathetically stumble over to the little refreshment table. I have not yet seen Edwaird this morning as our instructors believe that it is important for us to train seperately so that we do not distract each other. While I was skeptical and scared shitless of this the first day, I now agree. I'm doing good at this, and if Edwaird were standing beside me, or even within any kind of view, I'd be watching him and ogling, instead of training.

I take a long drink of water.

I feel him though. I feel Edwaird and can tell that he isn't too far away from me. Knowing this relaxes me enough to allow me to concentrate on what I'm doing.

Khonkha-ahh is the best fighter in the area. She has trained many before me, but never in such a short amount of time, so she is pushing me hard. I have to concentrate on what she says because she speaks with a thick Ssislan accent and many of her "s" words slur into her other words, confusing me.

She is a tall woman, and her long black braid extends from the crown of her head all the way down to the backs of her knees. It sways to and fro as she whirls around and I've even been slapped in the face by it a couple of times. I guess it kind of serves as another weapon for her, so to speak. Khonkha-ahh will fight behind me in the battle. She is the best warrior here, and we need all the help we can get. She too is ready to see the Queen gone and is all to eager to help us do that.

After a fifteen minute break, we get back to it. Khonkha-ahh teaches me all kinds of things. I already know the anatomy of the body and so we talk about different areas to stab to kill a person, render them useless, and various places to cause a great deal of pain. The first day for me, it was hard for me to put myself in the position to learn all of these things because I've never been a violent person, but when I had to spar with another fighter and she took my feet out from under me and thrust her wooden sword in my face, making like she was going to stab me, it became very clear to me.

Do this, or die.

I don't choose death, so I fight, and I'm eager to learn.

I'm become agile, and the fighting almost seems to be like a dance I'm learning. I'm already learning Khonkha-ahh's rhythm, and when I spar, I do my best to pay attention to the way the other person moves. This is key for my survival, I'm finding out.

We break for lunch several hours later and I'm absolutely starved. I speak with this little fighter, Dimini, for a few minutes, asking her questions about different types of weapons here, and when I turn around, Edwaird is waiting for me next to the refreshment table.

He is sweaty, sexy, and I make my way over to him with a smile on my face. The smile he returns to me is brighter then the daylight sun and I feel my face warm even more. He is my light.

We eat a huge lunch with the family and I notice that Emmeet does not eat much. For once, I eat more than he does which is simply amazing. A small part of this worries me, but I let it go for now, not wanting to interrupt the relaxed conversation. I feel happy, and while there is an undercurrent of nervousness, I choose not to focus on it. I need to soak up as much of this relaxed time with my family as much as I can before things get serious in two more days.

Two more days, and all of our lives will change.

oOo

You know those movies you see, or pictures, of a family seated around their supper table and there is the little kid that just can't keep it's head up because of tiredness? Yeah. That's me. We train from sun up to sun down and it is all I can muster to stay awake to eat my supper with my family before Edwaird has to practically carry me to our bedroom.

On the fourth day of training, I think my nose actually touches the soup in my bowl before Edwaird sees me and pulls me out of it. He indeed, has to carry me to our bedroom, kisses me on the forehead, and I pass out.

I wake with a start in the morning. The sun is not yet up but regardless, my mind is ready to go. My body is slightly sluggish, the muscles tight and sore, so I take a quick shower to wake myself up. When I get out, it is still dark outside, so I quickly and quietly get dressed and head down to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast. Emmeet has already started it, so I lend a hand and let him tell me what he still needs done. I want to ask him if he is okay, but I stay quiet.

Not much later, the rest of the family begins to filter into the kitchen. We've made an exceptionally large breakfast and everyone feasts. None of us speak about what happens tomorrow. There will be plenty of time for that later in the evening. For now, we want to focus on the hard day of training ahead of us.

oOo

Our last day of training goes much the same as all of the other days. The only thing different is that at the end of it, Esssme asks everyone to join in a circle. There a lot of us training, and so we have one huge circle, several rings of us. Esssme chants something in a low voice in the center of the circle, then pulls me into it. The people begin to chant around us, but not too loudly. It's a whispery chant, and it gives me tingles. Having no idea what they're saying, I hold onto Esssme's hand as she continues to lead the chant, then finish.

I tingle all over and when the group is quiet again, they all look into the center of the circle, focusing on me. Esssme looks at them, expectantly, and I wonder what is supposed to happen. Finally, somebody steps toward me. It's Dimini. She places her finger tips sideways against her forehead, then says "sssooksssisss," which sounds like Sssissook to me. Once she does this, everyone begins to do this to me, and I don't know what else to do, so I nod. They are serious in their tone and facial expressions, so I keep my face serious. It takes several minutes for everyone to do this, and then finally, the circle breaks.

I'm left standing alone with Essssme. "What was that? What were they saying?" I ask her.

Essssme smiles, then does the same thing they all did, saying the same thing. "Sssooksssisss. Leader. It meanssss, they put all of their trussssst in you, Bell-a."

I don't know what to say, but the anxiety returns tenfold. We wander off in search of the rest of the family. I didn't see any of them in the circle. Edwaird is waiting for me in the same place he has been for the past five days, and he greets me with a small kiss to my cheek. It's sweet, innocent, and I can feel his worry through our bond.

When we get back to the house, the women of the house surround me inside the foyer. Edwaird smiles and walks off, and I can't help but wonder what is going on. I'm tired, hungry, and I just want to get to bed, to lie beside the man I love before our time runs out. Before we have to fight and possibly...no. I'm not going there.

Ah-lisss takes me by the hand, leading us toward Essssme and Carlisss' bedroom. When we get there, they sit me down and immediately begin to mess with my hair and start putting these tiny black dots on my face. Maybe this is part of their ritual, like preparation for battle or something. Essssme goes to her closet and returns a minute later carrying a dress - an exquisite dress that matches the green hillside of the country home. It is a simple, dazzling green dress that flows to the floor. They slip it on over my head; it leaves one shoulder and arm completely uncovered, with the short sleeve of the other arm made out of some kind of lace.

My hair is pulled mostly back and away from my face. Tiny fishtail like braids are woven, then spun around my head, they move back to my face and finish my make-up. Then, they bring out shoes, and the final piece of this outfit. It is a necklace that is not so much really for my neck. It goes around my head, but is placed so that the metal rests upon my bare arm.

I slip my feet into the silk flats that match the dress as Roe-salie and Ah-lisss slip out of the room. I turn myself around in the mirror, taking stock of this new me. I look different. I look powerful. They tiny black dots create a pattern on my face, accenting the power I feel within me.

I finally glance at Esssme, who is watching me, appraising. She smiles then says, "You are confussssed, my ccchild. I wisssshh you not to hold anger toward me. Thisss isss what mussst be done. You musssst be ssstronger, ready, for the battle on the morn of nexxxt."

I say nothing, but nod at her, waiting for her to tell me what exactly "this" is.

"The desssstined duo, asssss Ah-lisssss hasssss sssseen. We musssst make it sssso. Are you opposssssed to the mated pair of your sssoul, with Edwaird's?"

"No. I would never oppose that. Aren't we already mated?" I ask confusedly.

"Yessss, my ccchild. You are a mated pair, though there issss a final ssstep for you. The desssstined duo musssst announce it. Thissss issss your announccement. The Oracle musssst blessss it."

_Holy shit. I'm getting fucking married._

"When? I mean. I want to. I want this. I want Edwaird...forever, however long that may be."

"That makessss me mossst relieved, Bell-a. I knew it would be ssssso," she responds.

Esssme holds out her hand. I quickly take it, ready to do this, more than happy and excited to do this. We weave our way through the house and finally come to a room that I've never been in, never even noticed before. She opens the door and walks in before me, leading me to a small seat in a box window. Edwaird already sits there, wearing a linen-y looking drapey button down shirt in earthy/hempy look. His pants match and while the outfit is not much to look at, the feel of the fabric on my skin is beyond soothing. The softness of it takes away my anxiety, my concern.

I hear shuffling behind us and turn to look, seeing The Oracle slowly make her way into the room. The rest of my family and a few of their close friends are also here. Once The Oracle is to the front of the room, she begins to speak. I understand none of it as she speaks in a dialect I do not understand. It is no matter as Edwaird repeats her words in English, inside of my head.

_What a giffft we have reccceived. All periled for much time under the reign of The Queen, Ssssulpiccccia. I know all to well of her wrath. But alassss, it issss the time of her reign to end. _

_I exxxxtend warmthhh and welcome to your ssssoulsss, and asssssk that you focussss your energy on thissss young mated pair. I have heard the sssstory of how young Bell-a wasssss found and came to ussss. How upon her arrrival on the sssship belonging to the Cul'len Tribe, it wassss almosssst an insssstant thing, that her mated bond with Edwaird was announccced. Never have I heard of sssssuch thingsssss happening, exxxxcept with of coursssse, the Desssstined Duo._

_Our kind hassss only ever dreamt of what the Desssstined Duo truly meant. The sssssoulsss of our kind wissssh for dessscendantsss to establissssh that kind of love, that kind of bond and commitment, but you sssssee it here, before you today._

I look into Edwaird's eyes, finding him watching me intently. I notice The Oracle turn to us before she says the next part.

_You ponder what it meanssss to be the Desssstined Duo. In the time of long ago, there exxxissssted a pair. They were ssssuch a pair, that truly, they made miraculoussss eventssss occur. The female wassss mossst powerful, therefore, they sssstayed far from civilizzzzation, but there is written document of our Deity usssing her voicccce, sssspeaking through her. For ssssome time, sssshe wassss all powerul, usssing thisss power for only the prossssperity of our kind. Our landssss were rich, ssssucculent, our people flourisssshed. That changed when the mated male unexpectedly met hissss final death at the hand of another. They ssssay sssshe wept tearssss of the life ssssource upon part of the land, turning it brown and left to quickly decay. That wassss the time of The Great Move, when our kind left that land and came here, to survive._

I look up at The Oracle then, and ask, "Who killed her mate?"

"It wasss the elevated mother of your mother's mother*."

I swallow thickly, feeling all eyes in the room on me.

"Thisss isss why sssshe issss reborn within you. Sssshe sssseeks revenge on your mother for following the path, and it issss the perfect revenge to ressssside within you, you who only pour out love and protection."

I look back at Edwaird, tears stinging my eyes and find him staring at me. I feel him willing me to find all that love inside me, and I do feel it.

I suddenly feel it so forcefully that a searing white hot pain rips through my body. I do my best to remain within my body and my mind, but I can't focus. I see a blinding white light, then fade out.

o.O.o

Edwaird's POV~

I watch my Bell-a'ssss orbssss roll like sssstones into the back of her computer. Ssssuddenly, there issss a blinding brillianccccce that emmanatessss out of her. It ejectssss from her digitssss, her orifacccesssss and through the top of her crown. The room we are in issss filled with it, but seconssss later, it issss gone. Bell-a failssss and I catch her form, gripping her to me.

I ssssearch the room for my uhnma, attempting to focusssss around the beadsss of darknessss in my ssssight.

The Oracle hobblessss over and quickly blessssess ussss assss a mated pair. Essssme, myssself carrying Bell-a, and the ressst of my clan quickly make our way out of the room and I take Bell-a to our chamberssss. I lay her on our ressst pad and turn to sssspeak to Essssme. The Oracle isss there besssside her, a look of asssstonissshment upon her.

Sssshe lowerssss her sssshell in front of my Bell-a, in front of me, then takessss my hand, assss well asssss Bell-a'ssss in each of hersssss. Sssshe chantssss in the anccient tongue, then bowssss before ussss.

I pull on her hand, lifting her. Sssshe of all people ssshould not bow before ussss, sssshe issss whom we bow to.

Sssshe risssesss then, taking my frontage* into her handsss. "Protect her. Protect you," she saysss, bowssss again, then exitssss.

Essssme ssssits besssside me and sayssss, "Sssshe believesssss your fate will become theirssss. Believesssss that desssstiny will not change for the ssssoul that ressssidesss within Bell-a, within you. But you musssst make it change, Edwaird. Your death will be Bell-a'sssss death. Don't you ssssee? You are both _the way_." Ssshe leansss forward, givessss me comfort with the touch of her hand upon my ssshoulder, then leavessss Bell-a and I in privacccy.

It issss all sssso much. Too much to comprehend. I climb upon the resssst mat and lie down by my Bell-a, allowing my orbsss to closssse.

o.O.o

Bella's POV ~

Dreams are so fucking weird. Just when you think that you've had the weirdest one of your life, it's like your sub-conscious mind has to trump its previous weirdness and give you an all new whacked out dream. This is my life as of late.

I'm getting to the point in the dream where I now realize this a dream and I feel myself begin to rouse out of it. When I finally open my eyes, Edwaird is staring back at me. The sun is not yet up and I let loose a huge yawn. My eyes water from it.

"Hi," I say, smiling up at him as he is propped over me. "Something happened didn't it?"

His look is all too serious and I want to reassure him, but I can't, so I don't say anything. I simply lie here, absorbing all the love that I can from him.

Something is so very different today. Yeah, it's the day of the battle, but everything about me feels different. Changed. There is a new me residing within the old me and while in my mind it seems that this should feel wrong, it feels completely right.

I look closer at Edwaird, study him. His eyes look different. Not in appearance or shape, but with knowledge.

"You feel it too, don't you?" I ask.

"It happened to you, occured within your sssshell, Bell-a. How isssss it that I feel it sssso sssstrongly?"

"Because we're the Destined Duo. You and I were meant to be more than any other couple. Ever." I pause a moment, trying to draw courage to tell him more... "I feel her within me, and I feel him in you. I can almost sense them, but not really, because it is mostly me, us. There isn't anything like this, like us. It feels like we are the same being, that was separated."

He slowly nods his head at me and looks out the window. He focuses on something for a minute then turns back to me. "We musssst take mosssst care to remain out of harm, Bell-a. Without you, there isssss no me."

The tone in his voice as he says this is utterly heartbreaking. I lift my hand up to his face, cupping his cheek and look him in the eyes. "And there is no me without you, so there we go. We don't die tonight during the battle. We have to be careful, stay protected. Promise me that. Tell me that you will be safe," I plead.

He nods his head at me again and speaks my words. "I promisssss." He gently touches his lips to mine, and I devour him.

o.O.o

As the sun begins to get lower and lower in the sky, the family and I travel to a large shelter where everyone is congregating. Someone has taken care to decorate the outside of it so it looks as though there is a happy celebration of some kind going on inside. There is no celebration...yet, but I'm sure there will be. I just hope that we all make it out in one piece, that The Oracle was wrong and nobody from my family will die.

I feel the guilt begin to wrack my body. Many of these people will die and I can't help but feel guilty about that, and for the children that may end up mother and fatherless because of this. But while I feel that, I also feel complete resolve, because this has to be done. If we don't do this, she will continue to reign and then where will that leave these people. They will flounder under her, because she will slowly, yet surely, torture and kill them.

My eye is drawn to Emmeet most of the day. He sits down quite often and I've seen him lean over to vomit many times today. His time is drawing near and it has me worried as all fuck. Roe-salie hasn't been around to take care of him today either, as she has been busy preparing for battle with Esssme. They won't arrive for a little while yet here, as they are bringing crucial entry/exit maps that they had to go out to the country bunker to retrieve.

Several times throughout the day I take Emmeet water and these little wafers that are much like crackers. Emmeet manages little smiles but I can tell he is miserable and I pray that Roe-salie and Esssme return very soon.

After a good two hours have gone by, Essssme and Roe-salie finally do return. With them, they've brought all kinds of rustic looking weapons. The Oracle hobbles up beside Esssme and accepts something from her that is covered in a violet colored cloth. The Oracle opens the cloth and inspects what is inside of it, then recovers. She looks up and catches me watching her, then gives me a little nod and begins to walk toward the back of the large shelter. I take several quick steps and follow her.

I find her in a small, secluded alcove, seated on a wooden bench and cradling the object in her hands. I sit down beside her and remain quiet. I know she is a woman of few words, but I suspect that she needs to say something.

She lifts her hands and places the heavy,purple wrapped object into my lap, then, with her gnarled fingers, pulls back the fabric to reveal what is inside.

My breath catches as I get the first glimpse of the gleaming metal. Never have I seen a metal in such a hue. I know that it can be died and twisted, but the crimson color of this weapon inside, this dagger, is so completely solid, there is no doubt in my mind that the metal actually started out this color.

The Oracle lifts the blade using one finger at the point and one at it's base. She nods at me and I open my hands for her, palms up, and accept her gift to me. In her hands, it looked heavy, almost burdensome, but the second I feel it's weight in my hands, the weight seems to disappear. The dagger becomes a part of me, like it is an extension of my fingers but wielding a deadly disposition.

I maneuver the blade, grasping the handle against my palm and wrap my fingers tightly around it. I test my grip on it and suddenly, the blade part of it glows a deep indigo blue, but the very tip is still glows red. Where the outside of my hand rests, at the bottom of the grip, there are small spikes interspersed with small, rough stones. The Oracle grunts at me and she motions with her hands for me to try out different ways of holding the dagger.

I do as she requests and find that the spikes are a perfect width apart for my fingers to thread through them. The stones, although looking jagged in between them, actually serve as a rest for my fingers. I hold onto the dagger this way and it again, changes to a different color - a burnt orange this time. I think I understand now.

"Do different hand positions control the strength of a blow that I administer?" I ask while still moving the weapon around in my hand.

The Oracle nods while tapping her head. I resume the testing of both the dagger and myself, but then feel The Oracle messing with my hair. I let my hands rest in my lap, noticing that the purple fabric is gone, and wait for her to finish. Several minutes later she is finished, and I turn to look at her. I feel the fabric that she has woven into my hair touch the backs of my ears, and it immediately puts me on high alert.

I meet her gaze.

"You mussssst be on guard at allll momentssssssssss, Ssssissook Princesssss. Thissss will help you to remember that." With that, she stands, but leans down and places a chaste kiss on the top of my head. She then ambles out to join the rest of the crowd once more.

I look out the window and see the sun dip close to the horizon. It is almost time.

I join the crowd and Edwaird finds me immediately. He holds a small piece of jewelry in his hand and a leather satchel in the other. He looks behind him and nods at Esssme. She walks over and joins us, taking the jewelry out of Edwaird's hands. She holds up the intricate metal work of the jewelry piece and I see that it is connected to a chain with many strands on it.

"It's beautiful. Wait! It looks like my necklace," I tell them, grasping onto the chain around my neck.

"Yessss, Bell-a. Thissss issss also a piecccce of the Ssssisssook," Esssme says as she moves behind me.

This is not a necklace at all. The piece is place on my head, then all of the chains woven through my hair and clasped at the nape of my neck. This too, almost feels weightless, like it is a part of my head and not something I'll have to worry about getting in my way. When it is completely in place, Essssme then takes the satchel from Edwaird and wraps it around my waist. She ties it in the back then tucks the strings into my pants and underneath my shirt.

She moves in front of me again, then takes my hand and joins it with Edwaird's. We are lead up to the front of the room where there is a small platform. The attention of the entire room is focused on us and I begin to see people kneel to the ground - before us.

_They kneel before you, my Bell-a_

I look at Edwaird and swallow the lump in my throat.

Essssme gives a small speech, but I hear none of it. My head begins to cloud with thoughts of the battle and I begin to see little patterns in my head, almost like somebody has drawn a map and placed it inside of my eyelids.

Before long we are heading out of the building...and in the next instant, storming the Queen's domain.

o.O.o

Twenty minutes into this fight and it's pure chaos. I know Edwaird is near because I feel our connection, but I cannot see him. Essssme fights off to my left and I see Jassspeer ahead of me, forging our way forward through a sea of the Queen's guard. We've lost many, but they've lost too and I can almost feel our closeness to her.

No. I can feel it, because I feel stronger. I feel the metal on my head heating up and the blade in my hand is growing redder along its length. I get it now. Not only is it a weapon, but it's also my compass to find her.

A body falls on my right. One of ours, and a piece of my soul flies off with theirs, upward toward heaven.

I see a body smother Jasssspeers and I scream out, running at full boar to get it off of him. My knife comes down along the guardman's spine and his body goes limp. Jassspeer jumps up and I don't give him a chance to thank me as I rush forward.

o.O.o

Darkness has fallen. Pitch black actually, and I have to hide the glow of my dagger inside of it's pouch. The darkness is working to my advantage because it seems that with the black sky, the image of the map in my head becomes clearer.

I'm in the house now. Actually, so are Essssme, Edwaird, Ah-lissss, and The Oracle as well. We connect hands so that we do not get lost in the dark with me leading. Afterall, I'm the one with the glow-in-the-dark map in my head.

We weave our way down long corridors. It is mostly silent inside, but I know that the battle is still going on outdoors. It won't for long though, we are running out of people just as the Queen is running out of guards. This was the plan all along. Let her send as many men outside to think they can keep the fight out there so we could sneak in. But really, I can't kid myself that way. I know that she knows I'm inside. I know that she feels my presence. Still, she doesn't move. She thinks she can kill me, that she has the upper hand.

I've got news for her...

o.O.o

We slip into a door that I feel is the right one. My skin feels as though it is crawling - hyperaware of her - and the blade also vibrates at my hip.

The Oracle grips my hand tightly, then lets go, and I suddenly panic at the loss as she was my connection to the others. There is a scuffle in the darkness and fear begins to bubble up inside of me.

_Go, Bell-a!_

Edwaird urges me in my head and I place my hand on top of the satchel, needing to make sure that as I move closer to her, it is the right thing to do.

I follow the wall around the inside of the room. The satchel gets warmer and warmer under my hand; I know I'm very near her now.

All of a sudden there is a moan, and then, a loud, piercing scream. I quickly draw my dagger out of it's case. It illuminates the entire room in a bright red glow and I see that I am next to _my mother_.

I place the dagger at the edge of her flain as I throw my other arm around her neck.

The room freezes.

Time freezes.

I see Edwaird in the grasp of a guard. Jassspeer holds another down while Esssme is stradling him, her arm in the air and at the ready to give him a deadly blow with the butt of her long sword.

A guard leans over the crumpled form of The Oracle and Ah-lissss is limp on the floor, her hands grasping her head even in her unconscious state...

Or is she dead?


	16. The End - Our Beginning

A/N: I've never put a disclaimer on this story. So here it is. None of the Twilight characters are my own, they belong to Stephenie Meyer, but this story is ALL MINE! This is my proud mama moment because what started as maybe a four chapter story for FGB Eclipse Edition turned into so much more, and I have grown to love these characters so much. If you ever told me I was going to write sci-fi, I would have told you to shut the hell up! But, here it is…the LAST CHAPTER. *sob*

This story never would have been written if Kassiah hadn't bought it and encouraged and told me that I had to voice record it. It's been so fun, so thank you so so much BB

Much love goes out to my WC'ers Risbee and Heatherdawn, and to the amazing LAlicat for pre-reading and handholding. Many thanks to the two ladies that beta'd this for me, NotCBlue & kyla713

Last chapter, I'm nervous. Please be nice.

**In The Deepest Space**

Chapter 16 ~ The End – Our Beginning

Bella's POV ~

It's the oddest sensation - feeling yourself grow stronger within your body, that is. I hold tightly onto my mother with one hand and with the other, I keep the tip of my knife at the opening of her flain. Of course, she has them open because she needs to feel, to understand the intensity and breadth of this situation.

The only thing she really needs to understand, though, is that I won't stand for her to ruin these people, _my_ people's lives anymore. It's over for her, and while I'm not sure if she will go down fighting or surrender easily, I'm at peace knowing that everyone can be happy now. I can be with my new family without having to worry about her trying to kill me again.

This thought leads me to two new ones. The first is of Ah-lisssss. The second I saw her go down, I immediately feared her death, but I know she can't be, as she and Jasspeer have a strong mated bond. If she were to die, I know he would not be standing so triumphantly over the guardsman he has grounded. Ah-liss is alive, but I look at The Oracle on the floor beside her, blood pooling, and I know that she is not. My heart mourns her loss but I can only give her a moment right now because I have to figure out how to get my family out of this mess, and my mother off of this planet.

Esssme finally drops the blow to the struggling guardsman, who falls to the floor, but at the same time, more rush into the room. Edwaird begins to struggle against the arms of his captor and I see a knife slice through the flesh of his abdomen.

"Nooooooooooooooo!" My own scream rips through my brain and something happens. Something that I don't really know how to explain.

The invisible rope between Edwaird and I seems to tighten, then loosen really quickly, and he goes down. I move to drop my hand from my mother and to go to Edwaird, but then I remember that I can't. If I do that, she gets away, and if she gets away, this will all have been in vain. She will come back with quadruple vengeance and massacre everyone.

Edwaird catches my eye and I see him nod his head. He is still with me, although weak, and I feel every little bit of his pain within me.

The Queen chuckles in front of me and it is one of the most evil things I've ever heard.

"Your mated one will die, Daughter, assss will you."

She turns her head slightly as she says this, in an attempt to make eye contact with me, but thinks otherwise of it when she feels the blade of my knife make a nick just below her flain. She hisses in pain and turns to face forward again.

"Your Queen will die by my hand if you so much as move another foot," I warn all of the warriors in the room. They all stop where they stand, unmoving and watching my hand carefully.

I lean close to The Queen's ear, and whisper, "You are leaving this planet whether you like it or not, and you will never return. You'll find that any opposition will lead to your death, so shut up, Bitch, and walk with me."

I look over to Essme and nod. She presses the button of a receiver she wears on her hip that signals Emmeet that we are ready. She steps on the body of the man she just slain on her way to Edwaird to help him stand. Jasspeer scurries over to pick up Ah-liss and exits through a hidden doorway with her, no doubt to get her cared for and make sure that she is not hurt. Essme has no other choice but to practically carry Edwaird, but he holds his blade yet, at the ready to take care of any guard that so much as blinks wrong.

I shove my mother in the back with my fist and push the blade against her skin. We slowly begin to move forward, and as we do, I keep an eye on all of the large men watching us carefully. I nod my head at them to move forward, following Essme and Edwaird through a labyrinth of hallways until we all emerge through a garden that at one time, must have been beautiful but is only run down - withering away to mulch and waste now.

Instead of the small pod that all people are required to transport in within the planets lower atmosphere, he has the large ship that will carry us through deep space. We planned it this way so as to not deal with switching ships later and possibly endangering ourselves in the process. The Queen is a tricky bitch and can't be trusted not to try something to get away, but now I wonder if she could. Her strength is waning.

Emmeet does not emerge, but Roe-salie and Carlisss do. They carry weapons of their own and stand, ready to usher all of The Queen's guards that stick by her, unwilling to change their ways and their loyalty.

I look at them all, meeting them in the eyes so that they may see my conviction. "You have a choice. I give you a choice, something that she may not have ever given to you. You've given your life over to her for years because she demanded it. She forbade you from having families, a life of your own so that you could serve her. She gave no love, no respect in return, but only ever took. So I'm giving you a chance now. I'm giving you a chance at a real life...for a promise. You have to promise to never worship her again, promise that you are willing to adapt to our new rules, which I can guarantee you, will be much less strict than hers. Are you willing? Do you want your own life?"

I pointedly look each of the guards in the eyes so they can see that what I offer is genuine, true.

Several of them hiss at me, but most of them drop their weapons, lower themselves to one knee, and bow their heads to me. This little act makes me feel triumphant and adrenaline courses through my body.

I nod to Roe-salie and she moves to the side of the ship's entrance. "I feel sorry to those of you who are not willing to change, because with this choice, your life will end. Wherever you go, I promise you, it will be desolate, it will be dark and only cause you pain, and I'm sure, a quick death. Will you not change your minds?"

Several of them begin to run at me but I push the blade into The Queen's neck, making her writhe in pain and stop the men in their tracks.

"Get onto the ship. This is the end for you," I spit out, angrier at the hold she has over them than their loyalty to her. It isn't their faults, not really. She has made false promises, given false hope for so long; their minds have twisted to fit her mold.

Wary of the weapons on all sides of them, six of her guards file onto the ship and we slowly move toward the ship after them. All of a sudden, I feel as though I've been punched in the gut, because my air escapes me and weakness takes over me. At that exact moment, my mother rips herself out of my grip, breaking away from me and running toward Edwaird. From her neck, she tugs at the only piece of jewelry she is wearing and as it is pulled away, I see how the chain cuts through the air. It makes a high pitched whistle and it moves quickly against the breeze; I feel panic rise within me, then blood red anger.

I begin to charge after her, noticing that Essme has taken on a protective stance in front of Edwaird, who is crouched on the ground. I will my feet to move faster but see that I'm too late. She whips the chain through the air and I see it slice across Esssme's chest. Blood immediately pours out but she remains standing. The Queen pulls her arm back to slice the chain again but my instincts take over and I leap through the air, landing on her and knocking her to the ground.

She struggles under me, doing what she can to get her arm moving again with that chain held in her grasp, but I quickly yank it out of her hands, throwing it on the ground and out of range. I feel the energy she stole from me slip back into my cells, rejuvenating me so I pick her upper body off of the ground and quickly slam her back down, knocking the air out of her.

"If she dies, I will kill you twenty times over. That, I promise you," I whisper. I hold my face only inches from her, looking into her eyes and begging her to make a move. I want to fucking kill her. "We may share blood, but I'm nothing like you. I'll never be like you, and our blood is the only thing we have in common. You are nothing but a parasite here, and it is time that these people be rid of you."

I jump off of her and grab her by the shoulder, hauling her back up to her feet. She is barely able to stand, but I push her in front of me and onto the ship. I look back to make sure Esssme is still standing and she nods at me, holding her free hand to her clavicle and putting pressure there. Edwaird sits on his knees, attempting to stand, but I shake my head at him. If he comes, I will only worry of his health, and I can't afford to do that right now. If he stays here, I know he will be safe and cared for.

o.O.o

We fly for a long time, maybe a full day or so. Of course, there was a lot of commotion at first with the guards and The Queen yelling at us and trying to get out of the bindings we used to time them down. After awhile, they just became too exhausted to fight anymore. I really hope that this will go easy for them.

I've debated on what to do with her for quite a while now. Several days ago, I overheard an argument between Esssme and Roe-salie about killing The Queen. Roe-salie is of course, dead set on killing her off while Esssme said that it is my choice and _only_ mine. Roe-salie didn't agree with her on that one and I could tell from outside of the door of the room, they fought in that Role-sallie was incredibly pissed off about it.

I can't say I blame her. Sure, she's my biological mother and I'm the one that was wronged by her, but I wasn't wronged in the worst way by her. Not at all, actually, because I was raised by good, loving people. I got back here by accident...but, The Queen has been torturing these people for years, for her entire reign. It doesn't seem fair that I'm the one that gets to decide what to do with her.

And really, can I kill a person - kill my own mother, with my bare hands?

I move around the kitchen area on the ship, filling up water pouches for each of the remaining guards and my mother. This is what they get from us: delivery to a deserted, mostly dead planet, one water bag for each, and one single, solitary dagger. What they do with it, whether it be to kill each other or use it as a resource, is up to them, and personally, I'm hoping for the first choice.

Now, it's true that I'm not killing them exactly, at least, not directly, but sure enough, they will die where we leave them. They may roam, looking for food and water, but they won't find it, because I've planned this. They have no way of ever getting back, and they will be exceedingly lucky if they can survive more than a few weeks. They have almost no water, no food at all, and the climate on the planet they are being dropped is unpredictable. They will find sand in places they never knew they had.

I tailored this plan to give her hope, but it is entirely a false hope. She has no chance of an actual survival of this, and I can't really say I feel any bit of sorrow for that.

I gather the water bags and loosen the ties of them as I walk into the main chamber where we have them all tied up. Roe-salie notified me earlier that we would soon be arriving on the planet and to carry out whatever plans I've left. She has been a bit short toward me, not knowing what I have planned and believing that I will send them off with food and water a plenty, but she doesn't know that I'm sending them off to die - a slow and painful death.

It's what they deserve.

I move around to the seven of them, placing the tie of their water bags around each of their necks. And might I say, if looks could kill... Yeah.

"Beginning desssscent," Roe-salie announces over the intercom, her tone icy.

I feel a small amount of nervousness swirl in my stomach for the first time and I look at _her_, realizing that she senses it by her smirk. I square my shoulders and adopt as much resolve as I can and smile right back at her...it melts the look off her face.

I look through the front window and watch as we lower, coming closer to the planet's surface and taking in the harsh landscape. If they survive her more than fifteen days, I will be very surprised.

"Where have you placcccced me, my cccchild?"

I whirl around, stopping dead in my tracks. "Don't you _dare_ call me that. I'm not your daughter. You gave that up. Don't address me as such. Don't address me at all." I narrow my eyes at her. "It doesn't matter where you are, all that matters is that I'm leaving you alive."

With that, I turn and storm out of the room in search of Roe-salie and Emmeet. I feel my anger boiling under my skin. I want to kill her so badly, which makes me realize I _am_ a bit like her. I refuse to ever be like her. I have to squash it, which is why I must allow her the sorry chance to walk away from this ship, even though it will mean nothing for her.

I find them at the rear of the ship, opening the hatch and lowering the pod platform. This is where we will escort them all out. This is the only time that I'm allowing Emmeet to be seen, after they are off of the ship and we will already be raising the lift back up.

When the lift is completely down and we are all armed once again, Roe-salie and I make our way back to retrieve them. I carry not only my special blade with me now, but also a larger one as we move all of the guards toward the end of the room, by the door. I untie The Queen last, knowing that they will not make a move on us if it would put her in danger.

"If any of you make any attempts to cause a problem, it would be very bad for her," I warn.

Roe-salie has the ship on voice command. She says the word "door" and it opens.

"Move," I shout, and they all begin to usher out, toward an unknown world.

When we are all off, save for Emmeet, I still stand with The Queen a ways off from her guards. I will not let her go until the last moment, and Roe-salie and I will make a run for it back to the ship. Emmeet will be waiting there for us, ready to push the lift button the second we are on it.

"I could give you sssssso much more, ccccchild. All thingssss your computer cannnnot envissssion, I can give. Make thissss better, and you will have all thingsssss. I can ssssee within you that you wisssssh not to do thissssss. You have been made to do thissss, not of your own will."

Now, she finally begins to beg. And to think - I thought she would have just let it all happen. She truly is a coward.

"You are wrong. No one is making me do this. I do this of my own choice, because someone has to. You are evil, you are wrong, and the people of Sisla are so much better off without you. I don't want anything from you, ever."

With that, I shove her forcefully away from me, turn around and run. I see Roe-salie running just ahead of me and to my left a bit but behind me, I hear many pairs of feet in pursuit of us.

"I sssshould have murdered you assss a babe. You sssshould be dead, Bell-a!" she screams from behind me, but I don't look back to her. I don't acknowledge her or her words. She wants me to flinch, to fall to my knees and cry, but I have never felt anything for her, therefore her words mean nothing to me.

Roe-salie hops up onto the landing deck and Emmeet pushes the button. It begins to go up and I take the last several steps and jump up, Roe-salie grabbing me by the arms and pulling me all the way in. Three of the guards trailing me jump several moments after I do, but Roe-salie and Emmeet immediately begin to stomp at the fingers. They cannot get up and drop finally when the lift is mostly closed.

And then, it is the three of us.

I look at Emmeet and see the greenish puddle at his feet.

Oh shit...almost four of us...

o.O.o

_Approximately Eight Months Later..._

I look through the window of the great room as I hold little Misssska-Anntouk to my chest. She fell asleep on me earlier but I couldn't bear putting her down, but my ass was falling asleep from sitting for so long so I finally stood and walked around with her. They were doing "landscaping" in the front of the house, but I preferred this view of the planet as it should be: wild, natural, and utterly beautiful.

Edwaird and I were more than happy to move into a small house in the village once we returned and everything settled down, but the people wouldn't stand for it. They said I had saved them and that they owed us. I fought with them about it. She was my mother and I felt partly responsible for what she had done to them for so long, regardless if I hadn't known about it until I was accidentally found by the Cul-len Tribe. She was my blood, and I had to rid these wonderful people of the poison she had spread for far too long. I was happy to do it, so when they said they would build us a new "castle," I forbade it. I didn't want a castle. I would have been happy with a quaint, yet cute home.

We finally came to an agreement on a larger home that would also have some function to it...that function being my ability to have meetings when needed, for the sake of "leading" these people.

The people took to calling me Princess Bella. They tried to call me queen, but I shut that down very quickly. I wanted no association with her, and I didn't even want the princess title, but they seemed to need to give me a title, and after everything they'd gone through, I was reluctant to deny them that.

I move around like a normal person, because I am normal. I am no better than any of them and I want them to see that I will always be like them and will stick by their sides through thick and thin. I do hope that the thick is over and done with. These people deserve relaxing lives, where they can finally be happy.

Misssska-Anntouk stirs against my chest as the outer front door closes, resulting in a sort of doorbell chime to sing through the house over our intercom system. With her beginning to stir, I make my way to the front of the house.

Emmeet walks around the front entry picking up things belonging to his daughter and smiles at us as we walk into the room. His "manly" figure is back to normal and I must say, I worried about what he would look like after "giving birth."

Emmeet leans in and touches the side of his cheek to mine. He and I have become very close - in a brother and sister kind of way. It's nice having siblings when I never had them before, and I've never felt so much at home.

He lifts his daughter from my arms and she immediately snuggles into his broad chest and falls back to sleep. He says nothing but I see his eyes asking me if she was good.

"An angel, like always," I say and smile.

When she was born, I called her an angel, then had to explain what exactly an angel was.

"Where is Roe-salie today?" I ask as I gather up all of the little girl's many bags. It's amazing how such a little person can need so many things.

"Sssshe and Ah-lisssss have gone to market. They are in ssssearch of ssssicknesssss tabssss for Jasssspeer," he answers and then rolls his eyes.

I laugh, nodding my head as we make our way to the door.

Before he walks outside, Emmeet lays a thin blanket over his daughter, then steps out into the strong sunlight. I quickly follow him, not wearing my own head garment, and load their things into what I've dubbed a carpod. He gets them situated, gives me a small wave, then takes off.

I rush back inside. The summer sun is incredibly strong here during certain hours of the day and if you are not careful to wear a special gauzy blanket to cover up, you can get burned very quickly. I learned that the hard way.

I look out the window to where the work is being done and notice that all the men and women working here have taken cover from the sun. This deep summer will only last approximately three weeks, and then the sub summer will set in and we will be free to roam whenever and wherever, without our covers.

o.O.o

After the battle all those months ago, we hurried back to the ship and hightailed it for home. Emmeet had gone into full blown "labor" and was in a great deal of pain. I didn't understand until later why it actually hurt so much for Emmeet to give birth the baby as it wasn't like he had to pass it through a too-small hole like human females do. No, but he still had to endure a stressful birth, and for a longer amount of time than humans do. The birth of the child depleted any energy Emmeet had stored and when the "fanny pack" shell around the infant began to dry and crack, it caused Emmeet intense discomfort. Apparently, the old skin that grew around the baby wasn't entirely dead, therefore, the nerve endings were incredibly sensitive. Besides that, the new skin that was growing to replace the area was tender and very prone to infection.

We made it home in good time and when we finally made it back to the city home, Emmeet was moaning in agony. Roe-salie and I did our best to carry him into the house where everything was already set up and ready to go. Three days later, Misssska-Anntouk was born.

Thinking about what happened next makes me want to vomit in my mouth...a lot, because just the notion is disgusting, but, it is how they live. The second Roe-salie took the child from the hard shell, she cuddled it to her chest and Essme picked up the discarded *gag* shell. They rushed to the kitchen, and of course, in my curiosity, I followed. Essme ground the shell up into a fine powder while Roe-salie soothed her newborn child. The second it was ready, they mashed it with fresh fruit - to a pulp - and Roe-salie drank it down. I wanted to puke, but at the same time, it couldn't taste too bad if it was masked by the fruit. Could it?

She gagged a couple of times but finished the drink quickly. We all moved back to where Emmeet was. He lay on his stomach, whimpering from the pain. I was amazed as I watched Roe-salie sit beside him and begin adjusting the strap of her shirt. I was even more amazed to watch that little baby girl find the breast and begin suckling.

Emmeet did get an infection, but they were prepared for it and so it didn't cause too many problems.

I was scarred by the process for a little while, but everything here is finally becoming so natural to me, so much like home, but I still miss Charlie.

o.O.o

I watch Edwaird through the mirror as Ah-liss laces my dress up the back. He sits on the floor with his niece playing with her toes and humming her a sweet melody. I smile as I hear her small laugh and see his resulting smile.

Ah-liss clears her throat and I turn my eyes back to hers in the mirror. She has a knowing look and smirk on her face.

"What?"

"It issss not a thing, Bell-a," she replies and gives me that smirk again.

I'll get it out of her at some point.

Her eyes glaze over for a moment, letting me know that she is seeing something, but quickly clears again.

When The Oracle met her final death back during the battle, Ah-liss absorbed all of her power, all of her memories. Ah-liss now knows everything The Oracle knew, in addition to all of her own memories. She is nervous about her new talent - especially with Jassspeer in his newly sensitive _state_ - but she no longer has to worry about my mother being around and causing the same pain that she caused The Oracle.

Ah-lisss buttons the last of my dress at the nape of my neck, then turns me around to face Edwaird.

"Sssshe issss ready, Edwaird."

He looks up at me then and his eyes go wide. He stands, walking over to me and he and Ah-liss switch places.

"You look mosssst exquisssite, my Bell-a." He cradles my face in his hand and then leans in to give me a chaste kiss on my lips. He knows better than to mess up Ah-liss' work. She may be little, but she's fierce.

An hour later, we are at the large hall that has been converted into a sort of makeshift coronation room. I didn't want to do this, but everyone insisted. I told them that things could be changed so that they didn't have a ruler, but they wanted one...so here we are.

Edwaird has been scheming behind my back. I know that he has a surprise planned for me, but I have no idea what. What he doesn't know is that I have something planned for him, too. If I'm going to be considered "royalty", then so is he.

o.O.o

"We announce you Princess Bell-a, lossst daughter of Ssssisla..."

"We honor thee, Prince Edwaird..."

o.O.o

With too much partying under our belt, Edwaird pulls us from the hall and onto an awaiting pod. We head out of the city and after a short while, we arrive at the country bunker.

"My gift for you, my Bell-a," he says, motioning to a keyboard that sits upon a desk and hooked up to one of the many monitors.

I look at it in confusion and then to him and admit, "I don't understand."

He smiles at me then. "It issss like the ccccellular transmissssssion - err, telephone - you told me of ssssome time ago. It will work in that sssuch manner."

His eyes bore into mine and I remember the conversation from so long ago.

_"What is wrong, my Bell-a. You appear to hold ssssadnesss within you."_

_"I miss my dad. I wish I still had my cell phone. Not that it would work here, though."_

_"Cell phone?" Edwaird questions._

_"It's a small device that has numbers and buttons on it. Everyone was assigned their own number and I could dial the number and connect to whomever I wanted to speak with. We could speak to each other through the device, even when we were very far apart. I could also send word messages by pressing certain keys."_

_Edward nods and we move the conversation to something else, he does his best to get my mind off of my father._

The symbols on the keys are not recognizable to me, but we created a chart of my numbers and letters compared to his a little while back.

"You called them texxxxxxt messssages. I am unssssure if thissss will connect to hisssss cccellular devicccce, but you could try?"

I look to the chart that sits next to the keyboard, swallowing back the tears that threaten to interrupt this amazing moment, and begin the slow process of figuring out what Charlie's cell number is in Ssssislan.

**Hi Daddy. I hope you get this. It's Bella. I'm okay. I'm happy. I miss you so much and you better be taking care of yourself. I love you.**

I hit the equivalent of the enter button on the keyboard and the message disappears. I don't even know if he will get it in his lifetime. I look up at Edwaird and see him smiling down at me.

I stand up and he pulls me into a tight embrace. We stand there clinging to each other for some time but there is no response.

"Come on, lets go home," I say, finally pulling away from him.

As I turn to leave, there is an odd buzz that sounds through the room. I turn back to the computer and see Edwaird running over to it. He looks at the screen, then at me, confused but amazed.

The screen says one word:

**Bella?**

I scream in happiness and launch myself into Edwaird's arms once again. Tears of happiness stream down my face as I sit down to have a text message conversation with my day. My dad. This shouldn't be possible. It can't be possible, but it's happening, and I won't challenge fate, or God, or whoever it is doing this for me.

I talk to my dad for several hours until finally, he tells me he needs to "hit the hay." We make a date for a week from today to talk again and finally say our goodbyes.

o.O.o

Edwaird and I take the pod to the country home and make our way inside. Before bedtime, we eat a small snack of fruit and grains and finally make our way up the stairs to our room. I'm exhausted as is he, but I want him. I need him.

And a thought forms in my mind.

"Edwaird? What would you think of having a baby?"

And he smiles.

**The End.**

A/N: Thank you so much for reading.


	17. Epilogue

In The Deepest Space

**Epilogue**

**GLOSSARY**

Shahn – NO

Unam – Mother

Dietska – Their deity

_Three Years Later_

**Bella's POV**

Three years. It's taken us three years to finally get knocked up. From what I understood way back then, it was supposed to be this spontaneous thing. Like, you think about having a baby while you're fucking, and BAM, I pass my little egg into Edwaird (puke) and his body both fertilizes and holds the embryo/fetus. I'd never felt more reptilian as I did when we were first trying and I was continuously asking Roe-salie and Emmeet all these questions.

The thing was that I couldn't wrap my head around not carrying the child. Truth be told, I wasn't really that heartbroken about it. Yay, I wouldn't get huge like the women on Earth do, but for the life of me, I couldn't get it straight in my brain. I continued to focus on Earth pregnancies and I swear, every time I would think about having a baby, I pictured me with a swollen stomach. The psyche is a powerful thing, because we did not get pregnant, couldn't. We wanted a baby, both of us. Edwaird and I were ready to move to the next level, and being that I was the person that everyone looked up to, I felt like a baby would give them hope that I would be what and who they wanted me to. I wanted to be a leader they could trust, and I also wanted to offer them hope, and beauty. I felt that by having a child, they would see I was much softer than my biological mother ever was. Besides that, I wanted a baby. I had become so close to Misssska Antouk, gotten much practice with her, and I love her. I wanted my own.

It finally happened, because I was finally able to picture Edwaird with his fanny pack instead of me with a big round stomach when we were having sex. We had all but given up and decided that we couldn't stress ourselves anymore. I knew Edwaird was disappointed that we were having trouble and I was, too, but we were stressing out about it too much and it was affecting our relationship. Such an earthly concept.

So anyway, here we are. It has been a long pregnancy, and Edwaird has had some rough spots, but we are close now. I feel it in my gut that it is going to be a girl. Ah-liss knows, but isn't saying a thing. She has the entire nursery decorated, but she is the only person with a key to the room, so, we wait. I haven't picked out a boy name, just a girl name, but why bother with a boy name, I'm sure it's a girl.

On Earth, we would have been able to find out, but here, even though they are capable of the technology, they don't invent it. They believe that only fate decides on your child's sex and to find out what the sex is will jinx the child. Whatever. I don't care what sex our child is, so long that it's healthy.

o.O.o

I head down the north corridor of the ship and head toward the control room. We've been on a scouting mission for a couple of weeks now. While we thought that we had rid ourselves of Sulpicia's loyalists, we found we were wrong. There are still several groups that broke away from the rest of us, choosing to live out in the rough hills far from the city. They somehow developed a way to create a new radio signal that we could not detect, enabling some type of connection to her without our knowing it.

Up until about six weeks ago, they had been kidnapping random people from the city and we had been unable to both stop them or find them...that was until Jasspeer accidentally latched onto their signal. It didn't take the rebels long to figure out that we had found their signal, and they took off. Of course we went after them.

This trip is turning out to take a touch longer than we thought, and it's beginning to make me nervous. Edwaird is near his delivery time and with all of the complications he's had through the gestation period, we believe it best for him to deliver on the ground, that way, should anything go wrong, we will have all the help and all the equipment we need.

In the control room, Edwaird is curled over a sort of ottoman. His stomach muscles have been bothering him a great deal as he continues to grow, so this position is the only way he has been able to find relief.

I crouch down beside him; his head rests on a smaller little foot stool and his eyes are closed. His breathing is labored and his eyes flit around behind his closed lids. I lift my hand to his hair, playing with a brown lock. His hair has gotten significantly longer, with it nearly reaching his shoulder. Even with that length, it is still able to stick up in some crazy angles. I'll cut it for him after the baby comes, he doesn't want to cut it before then, believing that the baby will feel it. I've told him that the baby can't, but he disagrees with me, so I drop it.

Edwaird sighs in his sleep and I let him be; he needs his rest. I join Esme and Roe-ssalie at the control board to see if they've found anything new.

Esme looks at me funny, but then quickly rearranges her face. "Bell-a, I trusssst you had a resssst? We are exxxpecting contact ssssoon."

I look to the glass screen where she is pointing, and notice a small congregation of signals that were not there merely two hours ago. "That's a new development. Are they moving at all? How long have they been there?"

Roe-ssalie pulls up another screen. It shows a map of the three planets closest to us. Two of them are uninhabitable, but the third could be lived on, given they bring their own water and provisions.

"They are near the planet Noossssta. They have not yet entered the planet'ssss lining, and we musssst not let them. If they do, we rissssk lossssing them," Roe-ssalie says as she changes the screen yet again. This time, she pulls up actual photographs of the planet Noossssta's landscape. There is no way to describe it. The ground itself is more like jagged volcanic rock that has these sharp organic spears that stick out of nearly every surface. There are no trees, but some of the ground gives way in random areas, leading to some underground, infernal-looking space.

"How can anyone survive in that?" I ask, nodding at the screen.

"The planet hassss enough oxygen to ssssurvive, but water and oral provisionssss are being taken in. That issss what they are doing in the hillssss of Ssssisla, they are growing food. They have sssssome type of sssstorage area there. It issss our belief that they have been on Noossssta nearly the entire endurancccce of their dissssappearance from Ssssisla. It wassss their dessssire that we undersssstood them to merely be hiding within our hillssss, sssso that they could hide from ussss, what they were doing in reality." As Esme speaks, she zooms in on a portion of the planet.

She taps the screen and suddenly, I see. I don't know what it is they are building, but I do know that it will destroy us, destroy our planet. I also know that they must be destroyed before that happens.

"How much time do we have?

Esme doesn't answer me right away, and when she finally looks me square in the eye, I know. We have no time. We have to do this now, or we all die. If we don't go there right now, we risk the chance of not getting to them in time and everyone I love will perish, including my unborn child.

I swallow thickly and nod my head. "Okay. Let's get ready, then." And with this said, it is either our future, or our end, that is set in motion.

Roe-ssalie and Esme nod their heads at me and we all run in opposite directions. My direction is toward Edwaird, who heard every last bit of the conversation. I can see it in his eyes, and he is afraid. But me? I am not afraid. This is her all over again, I can feel it. She has everything to do with this and if there is one thing I know, it is that she will not win. I will win. I will not let her do this to me, to us - again. She is done for. I didn't kill her the last time, but I will be damned if I am going to live the rest of my life wondering when she will show up next. Bitch has to die, so bitch will die.

_Three Days Later_

"You musssst tell me what it issss that you have ssssseen, Ah-lissss." A woman's voice, Esssme, for sure.

I stick close to the wall down the corridor from them so they do not see me. As it goes, we always have meetings the second Ah-liss has a vision. For some reason, she and Esme are choosing to keep it from everyone this time around. I take several steps closer, tip-toeing my way nearer to them to try and hear what Ah-liss is saying.

"There issss no way of telling. The outcome issss not decccided. I cannot sssssee it," Ah-liss says in a panicky tone. I don't like where this is going one bit.

I take a step in their direction to find out why they are keeping secrets but halt in my tracks as a blood curling scream sounds throughout the ship.

EDWAIRD!

And I run.

"He remainsss in a ssssuitable ssstate now, Bell-a, but he needsssss much ressst," Carliss says as he places his hand on my shoulder, holding me in place so that I can't continue my pacing path. I finally look into his eyes and nod my understanding.

Sure, he's stable, but for how long? His body isn't handling this pregnancy very well, and nobody can understand why. The entire pregnancy he was healthy, he had a ton of energy, and then he suddenly got sick about six to seven weeks ago. It didn't make sense. There was nothing in his body indicating he had a virus. All of his blood levels were normal; hell, he didn't even have a fever, but it was painfully obvious that Edwaird was sick. Not so long ago, for four long days, he didn't speak. He woke for very brief periods, but even then, he was not with it. It was almost as if he was possessed by something, but obviously, that couldn't be true, could it?

On the fifth day, he woke up and it was like he was a different person. He was mean, spitting words at me like having to communicate with me was poisoning him. There were times he would speak to me cordially, almost like he was amused by me, but then, he would suddenly turn angry with me. He would look for the nearest thing to throw at me and launch it, and I'd run, then he'd vomit and tire out.

That lasted for six days, and then he slept two more full days, and when he woke up, he couldn't remember any of it.

Something was happening, something big, but none of us knew what, not even Ah-liss. She would endure extreme pain when she tried to see around Edwaird. I couldn't take seeing her that way, so I told her to quit looking. We would find out in due time, or not. We couldn't dwell on it, we had more important things to worry about.

I lay down on the bed next to Edwaird. His eyes flicker open and he gives me a weak smile. "Mine Bell-a. I fail you."

"Shhhh. No no no. You could never fail me, my love. You are so brave. You are doing so, so well. Please, don't talk like that. The baby will be here soon, and we will all be happy, and you will be healthy again," I say to him in a whisper while I smooth the hair away from his temple.

From behind me, there is a tap on the door and in walks Esme. Edwaird's eyes are closed again and so she thinks he is sleeping. She says nothing, but moves about the room picking things up and making sure everything is in place should Edwaird begin to seize again.

I close my eyes to rest beside my mate, but hear him in my head. _ "Bell-a. Ssssomething issss wrong. I feel assss though I am three beingssss - three ssssoulsss, but two of them fight for dominancccce and I will not be a winner nor a player."_

I open my eyes to see his boring into me. He is terrified. _"You listen to me. You will fight, and you will win. You cannot let something take you over, do you hear me? You fight, because without you, I am nothing. I need my Edwaird, body, mind, and soul."_

A tear streaks down both of our cheeks at the same time and he smiles at me.

"Rest, my love."

_Twelve Days Later_

"The ssships are in placccce, Bell-a."

"Thank you, Jasspeer. You need to go and attend to Ah-liss. Please contact me if she sees anything."

Jasspeer nods at me and I see a flicker of something cross his face, but he quickly turns and heads down the hall, leaving me to wonder what it was I just saw.

"Esme, this has to be an air strike or we'll never get out of there. Are you sure we have enough explosive material to level whatever it is they are making?" I ask, looking over the data that Emmeet has compiled.

"That issss correct, Bell-a. It would be the end for ussss all, if we were to enter Noossssta's atmosssphere. Emmeet and I have calculated thissss attack in varioussss sssscenarioss many timessss, and thissss isss sssstill the ssssafesssst option."

I nod at her, and then, I finally ask her the thing that I've wanted to ask her since the day that I overheard her and Ah-liss talking.

"Is there something else that you need to tell me, Esme? Something important, that maybe you've been keeping from me?"

She takes a few steps toward me and raises her hand to cup my cheek. "My child. I greatly wissssh that my knowledge could be yourssss, but it cannot. We musssst let desssstiny'ssss path unfurl."

She takes a shaky breath as I watch a solitary tear streak her cheek, and then, she is back in control and moving off to prepare our ship to detonate a bomb. A bomb that will be sent from our ship via light beam to the core of Noossssta, killing all that reside on it.

o.O.o

There isn't much to be said about watching a planet get blown to smithereens. It was sad. I know that there were lives on it, but they were lives that were going to kill every last one of the people that I love...plus all of the lives that I am sworn to protect. So while I hated having to kill them all and destroy a planet as well - even if it was a nasty planet to begin with - it sucked, but had to be done. Thousands of people are safe because they are dead, but still, are they truly safe? Somebody had to mastermind their little pow wow. And I know who, and I should have killed her when I had the chance, but how do you do that? How do you kill your biological mother, no matter how murderous and evil she is?

I just don't understand how she survived. Fucking cannibalism, that's how. It's the only way she could have, and even after all this time, I can't believe she is still alive. It's not like I dropped her off with a crop of fresh Sislans to pick off every time she got the munchies. She would have had to plan carefully, and not only that, she would have had to convince those men to give their lives over to her so that she could live - only hoping to exact her revenge. Which there is no doubt in my mind that they would, but still. The whole situation is frightening and far-fetched...as most things are anymore.

We are on our way back toward Sisla now. It will be another two weeks or so before we arrive, as we have to make a few stops to some of the beacon station ships. The signal from the closest ship has been choppy and communication has been here and there, so we figured we would check out the situation and make sure all is well. We will go to the furthest stations first, and hit the last one before going home, since it is closest to us.

This is where things get funny - the part where the whole Ah-liss/Esme conversation keeps pounding inside of my head. As soon as Roe-salie announced that we needed to stop there, there was this moment in the satellite room between Ah-liss and Esme. I don't think anyone but me caught it, but it was just a quick look, and then it was gone. I watched Ah-liss as her eyes fluttered, but within a second's time, she was back to normal. After that, she decided she needed to go lie down.

Something is going to happen at the last station. I know it without a doubt. The scariest part of it is that I have only ten days or so to prepare for it, but I don't know what it is I'm supposed to prepare _for_. It has something to do with _her_, so I know that a big part of it will be a mental battle, because with her, it always is.

o.O.o

Over the next several days, Edwaird and I spend most of our time together, but secluded from the rest of the family. We both know our lives are going to change drastically when the baby comes and while we are excited to begin this new chapter, we both know that we will not be able to devote as much time to each other - alone.

This particular day is a bad one for Edwaird. His body temperature has been elevated for the last eight hours, and he refuses any form of food or liquid. He is sick, and his strength is failing quickly.

While he sleeps, as he has been for the last six hours, I read. Sometimes I read out loud to Edwaird and the baby, and sometimes just to myself, but my eyes are beginning to grow tired. I set the book down on the nightstand and snuggle further into the bed, beside Edwaird. That's when I notice it.

The smell. Without jostling the bed much, I lean over Edwaird and literally begin smelling him. I know the smell is coming from him, but I don't exactly know where from, or what from. I smell him through his clothes, and even in desperation, peel away his socks to smell his feet, none of that is it. Finally, I give up and lie back down. I smell it quite strongly again, then lean in to smell Edwaird's hair. It is much stronger, and as I get closer to his ear, the smell becomes disgustingly strong.

This is wrong. Very wrong. Our ears don't smell. I remember when I was a child on earth and that putrid Eric kid would stick his fingers in his ears, then smell his fingers and make a funny face, and then lick his fucking fingers. I knew human children's ears smelled because Eric stuck his finger in front of my nose on several occasions and the smell triggered my gag reflex. That stupid boy even had the audacity to stick his fingers in _my_ ears one day. He later told me that my ears smelled pretty.

This is how I know that something is wrong with Edwaird.

"Esme!" I yell out into the corridor.

I run back to Edwaird and climb onto the bed. "Baby?" I say, gently touching his face with my hands, rub at his arm, kiss his lips. "Baby, wake up. Please. Edwaird, please wake up."

Somewhere, more people come into the room, but I can't be bothered. This is worse, way worse than the last time.

"Something's wrong, so much worse, Esme. What do I do?" I ask, falling to the bed beside Edwaird and erupting into a fit of tears.

"Ah-gishhhzzz, my ccchild." Esme croons in my ear.

Still unable to fend off this skill of hers, I melt into her arms. She hands me over to Carliss, who scoops me up completely into his arms and heads toward the door. I struggle to get down, but he buzzes at me and I once again go limp. Just as he moves us through the door, it is quiet, but in a small voice, I hear her. I hear Ah-lisss say, "It hassss begun."

Edwaird suddenly rights himself on the bed, screaming out in what sounds like both agony and terror. I wiggle away from Carliss and fall to my knees on the floor. I want to stand, but I cannot move my body. I want to speak, but I have no voice.

o.O.o

_This must be a dream. Everything has to be a dream because I feel stuck, caged. My hands grip virtual bars and yet, I feel them. I feel how they hold me back, and I push, and I pull, and I can't break them. I can't break the things I can't see._

_There is a voice and OH! I'm not alone. I duck down to hands and knees, crawling to my corner. I know that voice. I cannot be seen. And so I am not seen. I am quiet. I am invisible. I am simply not until I can be._

o.O.o

**Esme's POV**

We all watch assss Edwaird awakenssss, disssoriented, and within a moment of hisss waking, Bell-a isss being taken over. I obsssserve assss sssshe esssscapessss from Carlisss' hold, falling to the floor. Her computer shell tips back assss though ssshe isss looking toward the sssky, and her armssss fly out to her sidessss, in the air. Palmssss facing forward, a crimsssson light pours from her mouth, her eyes, and her palmssss. Sssshe lets forth a ssssoundlesss ssscream, one that only sssseems to be heard by Ah-lisss, who coverssss her auricular receptors, cowering at Jasssspeer's feet.

Thisss issss it. The crucccial moment hasss arrived. Assss Ah-lissss hasss been sssseeing, it happenssss in the exact moment of time predicted. The true war hassss begun.

It issss within my knowledge, the undersssstanding that Bell-a wasss aware of a truth both Ah-lisss and mysssself were keeping from her. Thissss wassss ssssomething that ssshe could not be told, for informing her of thisss knowledge, what Ah-lissss had sssseen, would only make her more weak. By educating her on what wassss to come, we would have opened a loophole for Ssssulpicccia to enter. The passsst queen wassss counting on thissss. Ssshe knew that what sssshe sssshowed ussss, Ah-lissss would sssee. We knew we could tell no ssssoul. It was our bearance to carry, assss we did.

When it came to our realizzzzation that Ssssulpiccccia had not perissshed assss we hoped sssshe eventually would, we knew it wassss only a matter of time. I have thought about thissss for a great deal of time, and have come to the conclusssion that Ssssulpiccia wasss able to ssssense the impending birth of her grandcchild. A new heir. A new ssssoul. A ssssoul that sssshe wanted to abduct, invade, and then dissssperse hersssself through it. Conquer isss her only focussss, and it wassss too late for usss to realize after we let her live so long ago, that sssshe would never give up until sssshe met her final death.

And now, sssshe weighs two ssssouls to determine which issss the bessst "fit" for her. Her choiccces: her daughter, or her granddaughter.

Bell-a wassss correct in her asssumption that Edwaird had fallen ill. The pregnanccccy had made him ill, but it wassss hissss diminisssshed life forcce that had weakened hissss ssssoul, which allowed Ssssulpicia to enter first through him, and then into my granddaughter. Bell-a's _*coun-chah*_ - her fear of lossssing both Edwaird and their unborn child allowed Ssssulpiccia into her mind. Sssshe couldn't have known thissss was possible, and sssshe didn't. Yessss, mysssself or Ah-lissss could have warned her, but thissss is the fight - the final battle to be fought. There wassss no alternate path.

The protective sssshell around the ccchild issss beginning to crack. The time issss drawing nearer and it will ssssoon be the time when the decissssion isss made. Ah-lissss sssearchesss at all timessss. It issss her only burden, but a great one. There are inssssignificant flasssshes of the future, but none that tell ussss the outcome, which frightensss ussss in abundanccce.

Carlissss gatherssss Bell-a up into hisss armssss onccce again and carriessss her out and down the corridor to her quiet area. There issss nothing to be done now, but wait.

o.O.o

**Bella's POV ~**

_Sulpicia comes and goes. It's almost as if she visits me, and then another, but I would never consider her a visitor. She is a parasite, hidden within me and making me sick, sucking whatever it is she needs to survive, from me._

_She is gone now and I pace my cage. I must get out. I have to get out. I grip the bars and scream in anger._

My eyes fly open. Light feels like a cool drink of water and I drink it, as much as I can. I look around for my family, but I am alone. I feel the grip of something reaching within me. I shake my head back and forth on the bed I lay on. No, no, no. No more sleep. But I can't win.

_"I will win. I will always fight you, Sulpicia."_

_Her laugh is molten lava in my ears, melting my mind._

_I hear a small voice then. It simply says, "No."_

_I run quickly to the bars again, reaching through them, "Who is that? Please, answer me." But there is no answer, so I pace again._

_I don't know what time is here in this place. Hell, I don't even know what this place is. All I remember is that I opened my eyes. Oh! This is a dream! _

_She laughs again, but this time, it is ice in my veins. Somehow, I'm able to feel her malice within me, like I own part of it, but how is that possible._

_I hear the other voice again, so small, and realize it must be a child. _

_"What are you doing, Sulpicia? What kind of game is this?"_

_For the first time, she comes into full view before me. The gown she wears is a red the color of blood. The sleeves of it flow down past her fingertips, belling out, and dripping. The dress swirls, as if it has a life of its own, dripping blood to the floor only for it to reform into the bottom part of the dress at Sulpicia's feet. Her hair is woven into braids and twists atop her head but they move, alive, and pass through her skin to resurface on another part of her head. The sight sets my stomach roiling, but I have to squelch it. It's what she wants. She is counting on my fear for her._

_Sulpicia begins to move around me and I hear a protested no from the child that I cannot see._

_"Daughter. It appearssss that the cccchild of yourssss issss proving to have a sssstrong life forcccce. One that adamantly refussssessss to acknowledge me. Ssssuch an impressssive trait - remindssss me of my own sssself." She smirks at me and I hiss back._

_"It would be mosssst wisssse of you to consssserve your ssstrength, Daughter. You will require it ssssoon. Very ssssoon."_

_Suddenly, the child that I cannot see cries out and Sulpicia disappears._

_"Hey! Are you there? Little one?" I get no response. I am once again alone._

o.O.o

**Esme's POV ~**

All but Carlissss remain in the room with Edwaird. Hisss pain issss at its peak but insssstead of ssssteadying my orbssss on hissss form, they resssst on Ah-lissss.

Her own orbssss have rolled to whitessss. Jasssspeer cradlessss her; he whisssperssss and moanssss for hissss mate. Ah-lissss ssssuddenly returnssss to ussss. Her form abruptly righting assss sssshe ssssearchessss the room. Sssshe locatessss me, and relief fillssss my form for my granddaughter. At that moment, the final sssstage issss completed, and my granddaughter finally comesss to ussss.

The female child issss a perfect mixxx of Bell-a and Edwaird. Her orbssss tell of a ssssoul that originated long before any of usss, and sssshe reactssss to the environment jusssst sssso. Sssshe makessss not a ssssound, but ingessssts all that sssshe sssseessss.

When sssshe isss cleaned by Roe-ssssalie, Edwaird reachessss for her, and sssaysss, "Bell-a."

There issss only ssssilenccce, and Edwaird looooksss to me. "Unam?" he quessstionssss me.

o.O.o

**Bella's POV ~**

_Sulpicia comes back, but does not let me see her fully for some time. When she finally does, I realize why. Her blood dress that was such a violent scarlet color earlier has now begun to turn black. It appears lacking and I realize that something has happened._

_"What have you done?"_

_I can feel it, rather than sense it with my ears or eyes, but the child that was here earlier is gone. "What did you do to her?"_

_Sulpicia chuckles, but it is emotionless, like she is unable to muster the appropriate hate and scorn to make it sound vicious. "It issss more appropriate to assssk what the child did to me."_

_She doesn't say anything to elaborate, but I refuse to ask her to explain what she means. Instead of walking around me as she did before, she instead sits on the floor - something I never thought I would see, as this puts her at a disadvantage to me as I stand above her, ready to take her on._

_She hisses, and in less then a blink, she is on the other side of my bars - the bars I cannot see, but can sense._

_"Afraid of me now, Sulpicia? You should be!" I say through gritted teeth._

_Her face changes before me and her dress grows blacker._

_"Who was that child? Tell me. I want to know."_

_Sulpicia slowly walks back and forth, out of my reach. She seems to contemplate something for a few moments, and when she makes up her mind, she stops. She moves her face close to mine and says, "Your child."_

_I scream and reach past the bars, trying to swipe at her, but she quickly backs away._

_"The life forcccce of your child wassss the ssssweetessst nectar on my tongue. I crave more. Yourssss will not be assss ssssweet, but it will ssssufficcce."_

_She is baiting me, and something deep within me snaps. Rage and hate for her and love for Edwaird and my daughter and my new family boil up inside of me. Like water of the hottest temperature, I feel the emotion in me grate at my insides until I am raw. I grip the bars of my cell and within my hands, they begin to melt, and shimmer, with steam coming off of them from where my hands touch them. _

_When Sulpicia sees this, she gets angry, but I am angrier - so much more. I know what this is now. I know what she is doing, and I'll be damned if I let her play these mind games with me, which is exactly what all of this is. I get it now. She was in Edwaird because he was weak, and then she was within our child when it was old enough to start having rapid brain function, but they both pushed her out, and now she wants in my head so she can take me over, so she never has to die. But like I said. BITCH. HAS. TO. DIE._

_Mind games._

_I picture a cell, much like the one I think she probably pictured for me, and I place it over her. She screams and snarls at me in fury, animalistic and primal as she prepares to fight me. I can see that her life force has diminished though, as it is shown on her dress. I am stronger._

_"I will win." I advise her._

_She shakes her head back and forth at me, and I watch as her coiled hair slithers apart and begins to wrap around her neck and her wrists._

_"I've already won," I declare._

_She screams at me, but it is nothing coherent. _

_I maintain the picture of her cage in my head, while at the same time, continue to imagine the white heat coming from my hands. I melt the rest of my bars away, a space large enough to fit through, and step out._

_I make her cage smaller and smaller in my head as I walk toward her. She cowers, then lowers herself, curling into a ball as the cage bars touch her on all sides. She cannot move an inch._

_I kneel down in front of her and move to a position where she can see my face, see my eyes, and tell her, "You are dead."_

_"Shahn!" she screams._

_The cage grows smaller and smaller, and she is all but a ball of blackness within it now. It grows smaller and smaller, and it is a small box, and then it is nothing._

_She is nothing. Nothing but gone, forever._

o.O.o

I sit abruptly, noticing my entire family in the room. Edwaird sits at the end of the bed I rest on, holding our daughter. I'm so thirsty. I've never had this kind of thirst. I move my hand to my throat and Esme thrusts a cup into my face. I eagerly accept it from her and ingest the contents of the cup quickly. Only after it is gone do I realize the funky taste of it, but I feel better.

I feel different.

My tits _hurt_.

Oh.

OH!

Before I put much thought into what I actually drank, I reach out to Edwaird for our daughter. He looks reluctant for a second, as if he is worried that I am not truly myself.

"Please, Edwaird?" I ask. My voice sounds different to me somehow.

Edwaird's eyes go large and he looks around the room. Everyone's expression looks the same as his, but he immediately hands our daughter to me and oh, she is the most exquisite thing I have ever seen. I check her from head to toe, much to her dismay, and when I get to her chest, I see the familiar spackle of freckles.

I smile at Edwaird and our little one makes a sweet little noise at me. It makes my breasts ache all the more, but I want to give her name in front of my family before I nourish her for the first time.

It is a name I've had picked out long before I knew I was pregnant, but it had come from a line of a book that Edwaird had been reading to me. It spoke of Deitska, and spoke of her sister, Soul of all Souls: Nissss-uhlani.

"She is Nissss-uhlani Emehl," I announce. Esme lets out a gasp and Edwaird looks at me as if I am this new, better person.

Everyone but Edwaird clears the room and he lies down next to me. I put our daughter to my breast and she begins to feed, and my life is changed.

As she feeds, I look into Edwaird's eyes as he lay beside me. I think about that look of wonderment I'd seen cross his face and about how he made me feel new, better. Maybe I am. I feel different. I feel _more_, like my soul has grown exponentially, and my body may have a hard time to contain it.

Our daughter falls away from my breast, drunk, and her head lolls to the side. I look down and gasp. Edwaird lets out an amazed hissing noise.

Five holes. Nissss-uhlani has five flain holes, and I realize, she may just be the soul of all souls.


End file.
